Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
by fluffersmuttersandwich
Summary: "Suigetsu Hozuki? What crime did he commit?" "Being an annoying, stupid, smelly, lecherous, lazy cretin who got in the way of me and Sasuke." Karin struggles with her conflicting feelings for Sasuke and Suigetsu as she makes a new life for herself in Konoha. SuiKa. Multi-Chapter. Rated M for language, mature themes, and lemony goodness.
1. Chapter 1

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction using the characters from the manga/anime series, Naruto, which was created by Masashi Kishimoto.

Author's Note: AHHHHHHH, I'm finally finished! I've actually been working on this fanfic for _months_, but I didn't want to publish it until it was complete (because I don't want to be that author who never updates).

What compelled me to write this was 1.) the disheartening lack of SuiKa fic. NaruHina is my OTP, but come on, they have a million fanfics. SuiKa deserves some major love, 2.) I find Karin to be an interesting and _extremely _underrated character. I wanted to give her the character development she deserves and treat her as more than a batshit-crazy Sasuke fanatic. I originally intended to make this fic more psychological, but I found it got too jargon-y. Instead, I focused on not only her relationship with Suigetsu, and a bit of female friendship development as well (if Kishi gives us female friendship scenes at this point I will actually cry) and 3.) SuiKa is fucking sexy.

I do realize that as the events in the manga unravel, a lot of this might be negated but it's fic for a reason!

Oh, and side pairings are NaruHina, ShikaTema and hints of SasuSaku. There also had to be a bit of SasuKarin, but I will not leave you in suspense: this ain't a SasuKarin fic.

Please leave feedback (positive or negative) for me, as writing is my passion and I want to improve.

Chapter 1

Karin felt the warm sun filtering in through a crack in the tent. She groaned as it hit her eyes, causing her to come to the groggy realization that she was awake.

"Sasuke…" she muttered, rolling over to cuddle back into her sleeping lover's arms. Except when she opened her eyes, it wasn't Sasuke's naked flesh that she was pressed up against.

Karin screamed the most bloodcurdling scream Suigetsu had ever heard, waking him up abruptly from a deep sleep.

"Whaaaaaaa-?" he asked groggily, scratching his white hair that had gotten a bit messed up overnight.

"How is it you?! It's not supposed to be you. Is this some kind of joke?!" Karin screeched. She was huddling in the side of the tent, hands guarding her bare chest yet legs spread wide open, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Suigetsu, coming to his senses, chuckled, "Heh. 'Fraid not. Your beloved _Sasuke _is with Juugo in the other tent. I hope you didn't wake them up with your banshee shriek…but then again, you certainly were anything but quiet _last night_."

"No," was all Karin could muster. She refused to believe what was happening. _But Sasuke was there…we were kissing…and then we went into the tent…and I don't remember, but then we were fucking and it hurt, but it felt so, so good. _Karin tried to remember Sasuke's chest moving hypnotically over her as he thrust into her, but somehow Karin knew that the body she was digging her nails into from all the pleasure was not his.

"Still don't believe me? Look at your chest," said Suigetsu, snapping Karin out of her daze.

Karin uncupped her hands from her breasts. There were red bite marks running from her breasts to her neck. Not even Karin could deny that these bites looked more like animal bites than that of Sasuke's nibbles when he had been injured.

"That ain't Sasuke's work and you know it. To think it would be so easy to cut your true love into little pieces…I'm actually quite disappointed." Suigetsu flashed her a toothy grin, baring the evidence with those awful inhuman teeth of his. He did this to ruin her; she just knew it. Karin despised him more than she ever possibly thought she could at that moment.

"You scum! You Kappa! When Sasuke finds out about you using alcohol to take advantage of a poor maiden—!" Karin yelled, but Suigetsu crawled out of the blankets and covered his hand over her mouth. His chakra felt like salty water.

"Shut up and calm down! Sasuke is still recovering," Suigetsu whispered sharply at her. He uncovered her mouth. "Besides, it was 100% consensual. You were _begging_ me to take you. You were quite aggressive about it." Suigetsu grabbed his tank top, which had apparently been ripped down the middle.

"That's because I was drunk and thought you were Sa-someone else," Karin scowled. She couldn't help but notice Suigetsu's muscular naked body. She tried not to look at his dick.

"Then how come you were screaming _my_ name while I fucked you?" Suigetsu asked coolly.

"That's—that's a lie!" Karin stammered, fearful of what may have truly happened. _No… how could I let that foul, smelly fish deflower me when I had been waiting so patiently for Sasuke…how could I, with HIM of all people?! If Sasuke finds out…_

"Well, then I'll just ask Sasuke and Juugo what they heard. Your noises were….hard to ignore," said Suigetsu smugly.

"NO!" Karin cried. "NO! Sasuke must _not _know! No one must know! This never happened!"

Suigetsu sighed. "Look, Karin…I don't want to pry if this is something personal, but you need to let this whole Sasuke-Sasuke thing go. I don't know exactly what happened between you two when Juugo and I weren't there, but—"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Karin interrupted nervously, trying to push the traumatic memories she had repressed away in the darkest recesses of her mind. _Like what happened to my parents…and the village…and all those experiments with Orochimaru-sama…and Sasuke…no…no…that didn't happen. _ Karin realized that she had started to cry.

"Woah, woah! I didn't want to open a can of worms…I just…" Suigetsu got an uneasy look on his face. He scratched the back of his head and looked away.

Karin did not know what to think. Everything was just too overwhelming to think about. So she just continued to cry while Suigetsu sat there awkwardly. But then Karin chastised herself for appearing weak in front of _Suigetsu_ of all people, so she wiped the tears from her eyes. It was then that she got a real glimpse of Suigetsu's penis.

"AH! GET IT AWAY!" Karin shrieked as she backed up further into the tent, almost collapsing it.

"That's not what you said last night," Suigetsu muttered, looking frustrated.

"Whatever! I'm leaving! This never happened!" Karin quickly reached for those ugly, dirty prison rags she had been wearing, but Suigetsu interrupted, "You don't have to wear that shit anymore, Karin. I snatched some Konoha uniforms from a nearby camp so we don't look suspicious. The owners are dead, so, it's not_ really_ stealing…"

Karin grabbed the uniform. As she was pulling the navy blue shirt over her head, an alarming thought occurred to her.

"Did you wear a condom?"

Suigetsu's face turned even more ashen than it normally was.

"Shit."

"YOU SPILLED YOUR SMELLY FISH CUM INSIDE OF ME?!" Karin shrieked. "YOU PROBABLY HAVE AN STD—NOW MY BODY WILL ROT—"

"Calm the fuck down," Suigetsu muttered. A blush spread across his cheeks.  
"Besides, Orochimaru-sama kept me in a tank for most of my adolescence so…I couldn't have done it before even if I wanted to. I'm completely clean. _I'm _the one who should be worried about _you_. Have you fucked Sasuke or not?"

"W-what's it to you?!" Karin sputtered.

"Come on, Karin. I _know_ you have the hots for him. You act like a bitch in heat around him, and you said it yourself that he used you. Plus, you didn't bleed when I fucked you," said Suigetsu.

It's true that Karin had not bled, but that was because her hymen had been stretched out several years before. She had never actually had sex until last night. Still, she didn't want to admit that Suigetsu had been her first.

"Fine, I fucked him! But wipe that disgusting smirk off your face because he was so much better than you! And unlike you, he doesn't need to compensate for anything with his sword!"

Suigetsu grimaced, but then spat back, "I'm a grower, not a show-er. You seemed to find it big enough last night."

_Shit._ It was all coming back to Karin now. Using his water engorgement technique, Suigetsu made his dick sufficiently large. It had made the sex slightly uncomfortable for Karin, but there was pleasure mixed in with that pain, and Karin could _never_ forget that orgasm...

"Psh! Yeah right! I could barely feel it!" Karin argued back unconvincingly.

"Then I guess I just can't compare to Sasuke's meter-long dick." Suigetsu sneered. "Or have you been pleasuring yourself with the executioner's blade? I feel bad for whoever has it now…"

"Fuck you, pervert. I am so done with you trying to ruin my life. If Sasuke disbands us then I am going to make it a priority to never see your ugly face again," Karin replied coldly.

"_I'm_ trying to ruin your life? That's a really interesting thing to say, especially considering the way your beloved Sasuke took a massive shit on you and dumped your ass. You told me yourself last night; don't deny it. If anything, I'm trying to _help_ you," Suigetsu retorted.

"He—he said he was sorry!" Karin nearly cried. "And now you've ruined our relationship and I could be knocked up—"

_Shit_. As the consequences dawned on her, she felt a nauseous feeling rise within her. Having a baby _now_ would just make her a burden to Sasuke – especially if the baby wasn't his. She just knew she was going to have a full out panic attack. She could feel it coming on. All of a sudden, she felt sharp pains in her abdomen and her throat closed up. Except when she looked to see Suigetsu, she saw Sasuke there instead and he was stabbing her in the womb.

"_You're no use to me if you have this brat growing in your belly_," he said coldly.

The last thing Karin remembered after the screaming and pulling her hair out was the vomiting. Then everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note:

This chapter contains a dream sequence that may have some anxiety-inducing images. Trigger warning for rape (albeit imagined).

* * *

As always, please provide feedback and thanks for reading!

Chapter 2

"_Nice to see that you've finally woken up." The creepy, yet effeminate voice slithered in her ear. She could feel its tongue. It was revolting._

_Karin was held down with metal restraints to a steel bed with a blinding white light flickering above her. She couldn't see anything._

"_Mom? Dad? Where is everyone?" she cried out into the light, wondering if it was God._

"_I'm afraid they are no longer with us," said the unearthly voice. Karin now wondered if she was speaking to the devil himself. Or herself. Karin couldn't really tell._

"_Where are they? Am I dead? What is this place?" she asked, struggling to free herself from the restraints._

"_You ask a lot of questions. But don't worry, you are still alive. As for where you are, I cannot tell you yet. Just know that you're going to be here for a while. You are a very special girl and I need your help."_

_Karin remembered what her parents had told her about strangers. It dawned on her that she had been kidnapped._

"_MOM! DAD!" Karin screamed._

"_There is no use," the voice said calmly. "If you think, you will remember why they are not here. It was because of your special power that you knew something bad was going to happen."_

_That's when it all came back to Karin. She remembered the chills she got while playing out in the woods…the smoke coming from the village…everything was burning._

"_Some foreign ninjas attacked. They burned the village to the ground. Everyone died," Karin said emotionlessly. _

"_Except for you," said the devilish voice._

"_Except for me," Karin repeated after him emptily. _

"_The reason why those ninjas attacked your village was because your village was hiding a well-kept secret, and that was you, Karin. Although neither of your parents were ninjas, you are from an old bloodline from the long-decrepit hidden village of whirlpool: the Uzumaki clan. But that village was destroyed, and the enemies of that village have spent years trying to track down all the survivors and their descendants who have spread themselves throughout the world."_

"_Are you going to kill me too?" asked Karin._

"_No, my dear child. It would be such a waste of one of the most impressive bloodlines in the ninja world. I have far greater plans for you. But first, I must run some tests to see if you are compatible…I promise you, this will only hurt a bit."_

"_What are you going to do to me?" Karin yelled out frantically into the bright light. It was then that she saw Orochimaru looming over. His neck was all twisted out and he was laughing maniacally. He started to tug Karin's shorts down as she writhed and screamed. All of a sudden, she heard Suigetsu yelling, "KARIN! KARIN! ARE YOU OKAY?"_

Karin woke up with a start. She could feel the cold sweat running down her forehead. She gasped for air. Suigetsu and Juugo were sitting above her, their faces serious.

"What happened?" Karin gasped, still trying to recover from her nightmare. _Yes, that was just a nightmare. Orochimaru-sama never raped me, _Karin thought –at least that's what she told herself. She had a hard time telling the difference between real and imaginary as of late.

Suigetsu and Juugo glanced at each other. Suigetsu then said awkwardly, "Well…uhhh…we were arguing and you kind of freaked out. I was having a hard time restraining you; you started screaming and causing a ruckus, and Juugo got all crazy, but luckily he calmed down and helped me restrain you. Then you threw up all over me and passed out."

"You were quite loud," said Juugo.

"D-did you hear anything…last night?" Karin asked nervously.

"To be honest, it sounded like you and Suigetsu were copulating. Am I wrong? I mean, Suigetsu is here with you in this tent, naked, and you haven't killed him," Juugo said stoically, like he always did no matter the issue.

Karin froze. Suigetsu sighed, "Guilty as charged."

"You asshole!"

"What was I supposed to tell him, that we were sparring in here naked? Give me a break!"

"But then what happened this morning? Did you do anything to Karin?" Juugo asked.

"Uhhhhhh…" Suigetsu hesitated.

"No, he didn't," Karin answered for him. Suigetsu looked surprised at how calm her demeanor had become all of a sudden. "Suigetsu just said something that pissed me off as usual. It's all good."

"Ah, I see," said Juugo.

"Did… _Sasuke _hear anything?" Karin asked hesitantly.

"No. He was out cold. He's still sleeping now, actually. Several near-death experiences will do that to you."

Karin sighed a huge breath of relief. _Good. I still have a chance with Sasuke now. He doesn't need to know. I'll just forget this ever happened._

_Like what Sasuke did to you. _Karin heard the nasty voice in her head, but pushed it to the side.

"Well, it looks like everything is okay so I'm going to go back to watching Sasuke," Juugo announced as he crouched up to leave (at his height, standing up fully would collapse the tent).

"Juugo!" Karin called after him. Juugo turned around.

"Please don't tell Sasuke," Karin begged.

Juugo nodded. "Understood."

And then it was just Suigetsu and Karin. There was an awkward silence. Then, simultaneously, "I'm sorry." Karin was taken aback.

"What are you sorry about?" asked Suigetsu.

"I don't know, actually. _You_ should be the one who is sorry," she barked at him.

"I just _said_ I was sorry. Look…it was really shitty of me to have sex with you while you were drunk, even though you initiated it. I was tipsy too so I really wasn't thinking. I guess this didn't turn out as planned for either of us so I'll back off. It was just a one-night stand and I will never mention it again, no matter how good it would be as blackmail. Okay?"

"Good. It didn't happen and if you tell _anyone_, I will kill you," Karin hissed. She wished she felt more relieved than she actually did, but something told her that Suigetsu would make her life miserable in the future.

"Jeez. I get it. Although…" Suigetsu's voice trailed off.

"What?"

"Stay completely calm, because we _do _need to do something about this. What do we do if you get knocked up?" Suigetsu asked seriously.

Karin paused. _Damn. I need to take care of this before it nips me in the butt. Crap. Wait. I know…shit…this is going to be awkward but I have to. We're still three days away from Konoha and I need a pill NOW._

"Easy. I won't. I know a medical ninja from Konoha. Chances are that if she doesn't have a morning after pill, she can make one for me."

Then Suigetsu said something that shocked Karin.

"The pink bitch?"

"…how do you know about her?" As far as Karin could remember, she had never divulged any information about the enigmatic girl who had once been part of Sasuke's life –maybe even his girlfriend. She also didn't remember ever uttering "the pink bitch" out loud; that was just her private name for her. Sakura? Was that her name?

"You talked about her last night, but I guess you don't remember because you were drunk. She's Sasuke's ex-girlfriend, I think. Came running back to him and seduced him. You said he threw you away and left you to die after you gave everything to him."

_If only you knew what REALLY happened_, Karin thought, but she pushed the thought away so she didn't have to remember.

"He ended up betraying _her_ too," Karin said quietly.

"Damn. I wonder about that Sasuke sometimes. Although, I have seen 'the pink bitch' and she _is_ cute, and apparently she is the student of the Fifth Hokage. You've got tough competition…"

"When did you see her?" Karin asked curiously.

"She came asking for Sasuke yesterday, saying she was his old teammate. I told her he was in good hands and that she didn't need to worry."

Karin sighed. _She still loves him too. I just know it. I wonder if she hates herself for it._

"Anyways, you should go talk to her so we don't have any nasty surprises in nine months."

"Yeah. Definitely," Karin sighed as she ripped off the blankets to go put on the rest of the Konoha uniform. She still wasn't wearing anything on her bottom, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see Suigetsu blushing.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Konoha camp was uncomfortable territory. Karin realized she hadn't been among a normal community in years. She just felt like such an outsider; a sense of belonging was something she didn't deserve to have.

Luckily, there weren't too many pink haired people out there, so finding the pink bitch would be easy.

Karin walked into the medical tent and was overwhelmed by just how many injured people there were: amputees; people with huge welts in their chests; people with festering wounds that were oozing pus. Karin could not believe that she was only seventeen and had witnessed all these horrors. _I've actually participated in a freaking war. How weird is that? And for what…_

Karin's thoughts were interrupted by a loud, obnoxious voice that could only belong to one person: Naruto Uzumaki. He was groaning loudly about something hurting.

"OUCH! Sakura-chan—can you be a little more gentle?" Karin heard the whine from across the room. Now she knew exactly where to find the pink bitch, or Sakura, she supposed.

Karin approached to see Sakura unwrapping bandages from the blonde's chest. He had a huge scar near his heart, right around where Sasuke's was.

"I have to do this so your wounds don't fester," Sakura snapped at him.

Naruto groaned. Then he looked up and saw Karin.

"Hey, you're what's-her-face!" he exclaimed.

"Don't be rude, dummy! Her name is Karin. She's one of Sasuke's former comrades…wait, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in jail?"

"_Current_ comrade," Karin corrected her, which took Sakura aback, "and it's a _long _story. If you're not too busy, can I have a word with you?"

"Uhhhhh…sure," Sakura hesitated.

"What about me, Sakura-chan?" Naruto whined.

"You can wait a few minutes," Sakura said impatiently.

"What happened to the Sakura-chan who was crying over my lifeless body and kissing me desperately in order to bring me back to life?"

That's when Karin saw the pink bitch come out. "THAT IS CALLED C— FREAKIN'— P—R YOU DOLT! AND IF YOU DON'T SHUT YOUR MOUTH YOU'RE GONNA WISH YOU HAD DIED!"

Naruto looked like he was going to piss his pants out of fright. And just as suddenly as Sakura had turned into the pink bitch, she became completely calm with a huge smile on her face.

"Thought so. I'm sure you can tell _Hinata_ all abouthow I apparently made out with your dead body. Oh, Hinata! I need your help!" Sakura cheerfully called over to a violet-haired girl who was taking care of someone a few beds down. As the girl got closer, Karin noticed she had unusual white eyes. She also noticed that Naruto had changed his appearance and demeanor; he now had his arms folded behind his back and had ruffled his hair a bit in a desperate attempt to smooth it out.

"What do you need, Sakura-chan?" the girl with the pale eyes asked sweetly.

"I have to go talk to someone, so if you don't mind, Naruto's wound needs to be dressed. He's being a crybaby about it though, so be very careful," Sakura told her promptly.

"Ha! What's she going on about? I'm really tough!" Naruto said suavely as Hinata crouched down next to him. He flexed his bicep, "_Right_, Hinata?" The violet-haired girl blushed.

"Jeez." Karin heard Sakura mutter under her breath as she led Karin to a corner.

"So…ummmm…why did you come here to talk to me? Is it Sasuke-kun? Is he okay?" Sakura asked.

"Uhhh…yeah, he's okay. Well…it's…" Karin struggled. She didn't know how to frame the subject. "Look, I need something from you again and I realize I already owe you… but this is kind of an emergency." She whispered in a low voice, "Do you have….do you have a morning after pill?"

Sakura's eyes went wide. She didn't say anything but Karin could just tell what she was thinking. _She thinks I did the dirty with Sasuke. _Karin felt conflicted. Part of her wanted the pink bitch to believe that, but her guilty conscience knew that she owed Sakura her life, and therefore her honesty.

_I just won't specify the details. If I don't say who it is, then I'm not at fault… if she asks if Sasuke is the potential father then I'll come clean, but otherwise I'll keep my mouth shut._

"Oh. Well…" Sakura's voice trailed off. Karin could see the anxiety written all of her face and part of her just wanted to scream, "_I DIDN'T FUCK SASUKE. CALM YOUR TITS!"_ but doing so would just be letting the pink bitch win. After a long pause, Sakura finally said coolly, "I can make you one. It should take me about three hours."

"Yeah, yeah. Thank you so much. You've saved me _again_." Karin emphasized the _again_ because even though she hated the pink bitch, she also acknowledged that she shared a special bond with Sakura, her enemy who had saved her life.

"Come by later to pick them up," Sakura said almost mechanically, devoid of all emotion, before turning to go. Karin felt her stomach sink. She should've felt proud, but all she felt was self-hatred. She wanted to correct her statement and say, _"No, no! You've got it all wrong!"_ but she was frozen in place.

Karin looked over, expecting to see Sakura return to Naruto's bedside, but she darted off somewhere else.

"Sakura-chan, are you okay? Don't you need to finish up with Naruto-kun?" Karin heard the pale-eyed girl ask her as she stormed off.

"Eh, she must be having a bad day. It's okay, Hinata, you're doing an excellent job," Naruto said smoothly. Karin then saw Naruto lean over and whisper something in Hinata's ear, which made Karin feel uncomfortable. She started to think of Suigetsu pounding inside her while nibbling on her ear. Karin's entire face went red. _Shit. This has been such a fucking weird day. I need to go take a walk_.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Karin was too afraid to go back to either her camp or the medical tent for the rest of the day, so she ended up just walking around aimlessly, trying not to think about anything unpleasant. Whenever she saw any couples, she immediately thought of what happened with Suigetsu and felt deeply ashamed.

_No. Sasuke is the one I __**really**__ love._

Karin wondered that if by some lucky chance she did end up with Sasuke, if he would be the Sex-God-Dream-Lover she had always fantasized about or if –worse case scenario – he would be horribly abusive. But she just couldn't picture herself – or anyone else for that matter— in a relationship with the real Sasuke. The Sasuke who she was in love with was an image; an ideal of what he should've been and who she had built him up to be ever since he saved her in the forest of death. She saw glimpses of that Sasuke sometimes, but those instances were few and far between. It was more fun chasing after a false idol. He was just too hot for his own good. _Oh yeah, I am so going to jump him later_, Karin thought mischievously, but somehow that wish seemed empty.

Karin didn't even notice when camp had begun moving. She just walked along with everyone else. Along the way, they came across a supply warehouse so camp stopped again for food. Karin managed to snag some pork and roast it around a fire with some chuunin. She told them all that she had just been transferred from the village of the hidden mist, which was why they hadn't seen her before. They started sharing war stories, and then the conversation shifted.

"So, do you think Tsunade-sama is going to step down as Hokage? I mean, that Naruto kid is basically unstoppable," a guy named Hiroshi said.

"He's still kind of young though, and he hasn't even been promoted to chunin. He doesn't have the leadership skills to lead a village, even if he is the most powerful ninja in the world. Give him a few years to mature and _maybe_," said a big, tall guy named Tatewaki.

"I heard that Sasuke Uchiha wants to be Hokage," Karin piped up.

The ninjas she was eating with all started laughing.

"That is the funniest rumor I've heard since this damn war started," laughed Tatewaki.

"That's like Orochimaru coming back from the grave and saying he wants to be a sensei at the ninja academy," joked a girl named Shiori.

_Actually that's not impossible_, Karin thought to herself.

"Yeah, it's just a rumor," Karin said.

"Hope so. The nerve of that bastard! Turns his back on the village and then expects us all to treat him like a big damn hero just because he got rid of some vermin? He's going to be like the next Danzou, mark my words," said Tatewaki.

"So you think Orochimaru and Madara were just _vermin_?" Karin snapped.

"She does have a point. Sasuke did us a huge favor by getting rid of those guys," Hiroshi pointed out, "and his batshit crazy brother, too."

"I heard a rumor that someone spotted Orochimaru during the war," said Shiori.

"Must've just been a hallucination. PTSD," Karin said quickly, trying to brush off the comment. Orochimaru-sama was indeed alive, as was Kabuto, but Karin hadn't seen them or even sensed them since the war ended. Who knew what they were up to? She felt a bitter taste in her throat.

"Yeah," Tatewaki agreed, "but regardless, that Sasuke kid has got to face some serious consequences before he even sets foot in the village, let alone become the fucking Hokage."

Karin finished her pork quickly and slipped away unnoticed. She returned to the medical tent. After much looking, she found Sakura in a room with several drawers filled with herbs.

"Uhhhh….hi," Karin said awkwardly. Sakura didn't respond. She reached into a drawer and pulled out a white pill.

"Here. Take this. It's on me."

"Thanks," Karin said quietly as she reached for the pill. For a split second she worried it might be poisoned, but she brushed that thought away. She knew the pink bitch didn't have the guts to do it; she didn't even have the guts to kill Sasuke. She wanted to tell Sakura everything, but something stopped her from doing so. Without another word, she left the medical tent, wondering what Sakura was thinking. Would this make her give up on Sasuke? Somehow, Karin knew that if Sasuke attempted to kill her and she still loved him, the answer would be no.

Karin found the two tents that she had set up with Hawk. Suigetsu was drinking his water bottle in front of the campfire.

"Did you take care of business?" he asked.

"Yeah," Karin replied shortly. She had already had enough of Suigetsu for one day and really didn't have the energy to engage with him. She walked into the guys' tent. Juugo was resting in the corner and to Karin's surprise, Sasuke was sitting up. He appeared to be deep in thought about something.

"Sasuke! You're awake!" Karin said, relieved.

"Have I been out longer than a day?" he asked.

"No…just since last night," she answered.

"Did anything important happen while I was out?"

_Let's see…Suigetsu took my virginity, which I was saving for you._

"No. We moved camp, so I figure Juugo must've carried you."

"And Orochimaru and Kabuto?"

"I can't sense them at all."

Sasuke tsked. Then the room fell silent. This was how it always was. Sasuke only talked to her when he needed information. She wondered if Sasuke even saw her as a human being and not a walking GPS.

"Your old girlfriend came to visit." Karin whipped around and noticed that Suigetsu had entered the tent. _Damn him_.

"Sakura?" Sasuke asked, poker-faced. Karin's gut wrenched at the fact that Sasuke didn't even refute Suigetsu's statement.

"Yeah. I told her you were in good hands, though."

"Did she say anything about Naruto?"

"Uhhhh…she mentioned that Naruto wanted to talk to you once you get back to the village. That's it," said Suigetsu.

"Hn. Sure, I'll talk to that idiot but he's sadly fucking mistaken if he thinks everything's going to be all sunshine and rainbows," Sasuke sneered.

"What happened between you and your old teammates? I don't get it. If you both want to protect the village and you want to become hokage, then wouldn't it be to your advantage to be friends with the village hero and the protégé of the Fifth Hokage?" Suigetsu asked. Karin knew that it probably wasn't tactful of Suigetsu to say so, but part of her was also curious about Sasuke's past. The Sasuke who saved her life, after all, was the Sasuke who had been a Konoha genin with Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura.

"Naruto would never step down from his silly dream of being Hokage, and neither would I. It's either me or him. Neither of us could be second best to the other," Sasuke explained.

"And I'm sure the people of Konoha will _love_ you if you kill their idol," Suigetsu said sarcastically. Karin flinched. Suigetsu could be such a _dumbass_ sometimes.

"SUIGETSU! Stop talking to Sasuke like that!" Karin barked.

"You _know_ I'm right," Suigetsu retorted back at her.

"I'm just doing what's best for the village. I cannot deny that Naruto is strong at this point, but he is just too much of a soft-hearted idiot to be Hokage," Sasuke reasoned.

"Why can't you just become co-kage's? Seriously. You'd be the brains; he'd be the brawn. You can call all the shots and he can deliver them. You can do all the annoying paperwork and he can go out there and fight like an action hero," Suigetsu mused. Karin couldn't tell if he was serious or not.

"That's the dumbest shit I've ever heard!" Karin said.

Sasuke was clearly not amused. Suigetsu took the hint and got up to leave.

"Fine. But don't be stupid about this, Sasuke. After all, the first Hokage was a fool but he had his brother behind him making sure he didn't fuck up, and then his brother got to be Hokage after him. I'm just saying that maybe you should let Naruto have his fifteen minutes of fame and help out in the background, have him try the Hokage thing and realize it's not all fun and games, so _then_ later once your missing-nin status has faded into obscurity, the village would accept you as Hokage." With that, he walked back outside.

Karin wanted to say something, but she couldn't argue with Suigetsu's logic. _It would be really stupid for Sasuke to try to fight Naruto for the Hokage title while he had recently committed crimes as a missing nin. He was even saying he would destroy the village a month ago._

Still, Karin couldn't bear to see Sasuke angry. She removed her glasses and crawled over to the brooding boy.

"Don't listen to him, Sasuke! He doesn't know what he's talking about!" She cooed.

Sasuke looked at her piteously.

"Karin…just…don't," Sasuke said quietly.

"Soooooo…do you want me to stay the night with you?" Karin knew what the answer would be, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"Go back to your tent, Karin," Sasuke said blankly.

Karin grabbed her glasses, sighed, and turned up to go. But she could feel all the repressed anger boiling in her. She remembered Sakura's anguished face and that's when she just couldn't take it any longer.

"Sasuke."

"What?" Sasuke snapped impatiently.

"I hope that when you see Sakura again, you give her a _real_ apology and not just a half-assed 'sorry' like you accidentally tripped her when in reality, you really tried to _kill_ her," Karin hissed, her voice dripping with poison. Sasuke was absolutely floored by the sudden intensity and bitterness after she had just been all over him, but Karin didn't give two shits. With a huff, she stormed out of the tent. Suigetsu smirked and asked, "Lovers quarrel?" Karin didn't even stop to yell at Suigetsu. She just went right to her tent, feeling a guilty twinge of pleasure.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Karin woke up slowly as the sun filtered in through the tent. She opened her eyes and to her relief, Suigetsu was not there. _It was all just a dream…having sex with that kappa…asking the pink bitch for the pill…mouthing off to Sasuke…yeah, none of that actually happened._

Still, her mind replayed images of Suigetsu's hot, sweaty chest looming over hers. Karin felt intense waves of pleasure as she remembered him biting her, sucking on her tits, and thrusting fast and hard inside her. Making sure the flap to her tent was completely closed, Karin reached down under her pants and started masturbating. She had never thought of having sex with someone other than Sasuke before, but she had to admit, imagining Suigetsu on top of her gave her this guilty sort of excitement; like she was getting back at Sasuke for all the shit he had done to her and he would realize how much of an asshole he had been. Yes, that was the only reason why. She imagined Suigetsu taking her from behind as Sasuke watched helplessly, looking like a lost puppy dog.

She was surprised at how quickly and strongly she orgasmed. At first she felt the warm pleasure rush through her, lying in the afterglow. But then she felt disgusted at herself for climaxing while thinking of Suigetsu. Her cheeks burned.

She spent the next two days wandering around the camp aimlessly. She wanted to spend as much time away from Suigetsu and Sasuke as possible. Sasuke wasn't talking to her as per usual, and Suigetsu had reverted back to his annoying self. The only interesting thing that happened was when Kakashi Hatake came to talk to Sasuke. Karin was outside the tent when it happened, but she overheard a lot of things about the Uchiha, and "Tobi" who had apparently been some guy named Obito, and village stuff. He also said some similar things to Sasuke that Suigetsu had said, and Karin had overheard that "there would definitely be consequences." The consequences part made Karin worry because if Sasuke was going to get punished, then she would surely get punished as well. She was probably going to get punished anyways for escaping jail. She could just run away, but she was sick of wandering around with no sense of belonging. At least she _knew_ people in Konoha. Plus, they had really good food…

On the third day, they finally reached Konoha and were greeted with applause at the main gate. Karin felt weird because she felt like she did not deserve any cheering and was nervous about going back to jail. Sure enough, as she went through customs, a guard recognized her from a list of missing nin and sent her to be interrogated.

_Well, this sucks_, Karin thought to herself. She would be stuck in a cell in those bloody ugly rags again for the next twelve hours with nothing to do. She could masturbate, but she didn't want any perverts watching. As that thought crossed her mind, she saw Suigetsu being lead into the cell across from hers. He was wearing the same ugly rags as her. The guard told him that his trial would be tomorrow (a little bit later than her own), and left. Suigetsu waved to her from across the hallway.

"Long time no see!"

"No kidding," Karin muttered. _Great. The last person I want to be stuck with all night. _"So they caught you, huh?"

"Yeah, they saw me with Sasuke and put me in here for questioning. They were going to put Juugo in here too, but Sasuke explained that he was the only one who could calm Juugo down should he go on a rampage. As for Sasuke, he had to go directly to the Hokage and the other higher ups. Who knows how long he'll be under interrogation?"

"Hopefully not too long," Karin said nervously.

"As always, worried about her beloved Sasuke," Suigetsu jeered. To Karin's surprise, his body liquefied and he walked straight through to her cell. He plopped himself down next to her.

"W-who said I was worried about Sasuke, you freak!?" Karin stammered. "Why don't you just escape?"

"I could, but it would be more beneficial for me to clear my name so the Hidden Mist knows that I didn't leave; I was kidnapped. I'll just say that going with Sasuke was my only way to escape."

"So is that what you're going to do after this? Go back to the Hidden Mist?"

"Nah. I'll probably stay here for a few weeks; rest up. Then I'll go find the executioner's blade and other notable swords. Eventually restart the seven ninja swordsmen. You? You going to stay with Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked seriously.

Karin honestly didn't know. She hadn't thought about it. For so many years now, others had dictated her life. First Orochimaru-sama, then Sasuke – and Karin was only fooling herself if she believed that Sasuke still needed her. He had no one to hunt down anymore; no vengeance to take (unless he decided to beat the shit out of some old geezers who were practically on their deathbeds anyways). Now that Karin actually had a choice, she didn't know what to do.

"I don't know," Karin said honestly. "I like it here, but I also feel like an outsider. I haven't belonged to a real village since I was a kid, but I have no home to return to."

"You know, as much as I hate to admit it, I _would_ miss you. You could always come with me," Suigetsu offered. Karin expected the offer to be a joke, but when she looked into Suigetsu's eyes she realized he was completely serious. She noticed that her face was dangerously close to his. His hot breath lightly caressed Karin's neck; it was so salty and raw. If Karin didn't insult him, he would probably kiss her.

_Or worse, __**I**__ would kiss __**him**_, she thought.

"I'd murder you in your sleep like nothing," Karin scoffed, inching herself away from Suigetsu.

"Good thing I was just joking. Jeez, Karin! Like I'd actually _want_ your fat ass around," Suigetsu teased.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, KAPPA?!" Karin yelled, as she fidgeted her glasses.

"I couldn't live with that fat ass of yours! We'd go to an inn and have to pay for three! Hell, I can barely fit in this cell with you!"

With a violent splash, Karin punched through Suigetsu, spilling water all over the cell. Two guards came running over.

"What the—? How did he get in here?" one of the Konoha guards asked in confusion.

"Sir, this vile felon tried to take advantage of me, so I defended myself," Karin fake-sobbed. "He has an ability that turns his body to water, so please lock him up in a tank where he can't get out and bother me."

"Oh, you are so full of shit!" Suigetsu fumed, his face still deformed from the punch.

The guards looked at each other in complete bewilderment, but eventually they grabbed Suigetsu and led him off.

"Come on, boy, let's make sure you don't escape again," said one of the guards. Suigetsu eyes were shooting daggers at Karin. Karin blew a raspberry at him.

_Ha. That will teach him a lesson. _

Five minutes later, Karin realized how insanely bored she was and regretted sending Suigetsu away.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The next morning couldn't come soon enough. Karin tried to fall asleep, but the steel bed on the wall was just too uncomfortable. No matter how much she tried to relax, her mind kept on racing. As always, she pushed any dark, unpleasant thoughts to the side and fantasized instead. She thought about Sasuke coming in to bail her out. He gave her an apology with tears in his eyes and confessed his love to her.

"Ohhhhhh, Sasuke ~!" Karin squealed out loud as she rolled around on the steel bed. Yes, these Sasuke fantasies were good; they would keep Karin entertained. She then thought of an alternate universe where Sasuke was a pirate captain and she was his sexy wench. She thought of Sasuke taking her up against the mast of the ship and her cheeks burned. Damn, she was so horny it _hurt_, but she couldn't let any pervs watch her.

Luckily, a guard finally came to take Karin out of her misery. He led her down the corridor into a white room with a grey table in the middle. The bright light hanging down from the ceiling was eerily familiar to Karin. It was probably because she had been in this room before. The same interrogator was even there too; Ibiki Morino. The other interrogators were soft, but this guy meant serious business.

"Have a seat. We've got a lot to talk about," he said gruffly.

Karin sat down, trying to study Ibiki. He had a black bandana completely covering his head. Either he liked it bald or there were some things Karin really didn't want to see under there.

"So how did you manage to escape?" he asked calmly.

"That was easy. I hid some tools in a photo frame. I kept the key in my glasses, and when the guards weren't looking, I sawed off my cuffs and picked the lock on my cell," Karin said, trying to sound as cool and collected as possible.

"Clever girl." Ibiki turned back and glared at the guards in the room. "As for the rest of you, not so clever. Why did you allow this girl to have a photo frame in her cell?"

"She was…uhhhh…"

Karin recognized the guard who was stammering. He had been on duty when she was in jail the first time.

"She was crazy, sir. She screamed and kicked and even bit us when we tried to take it away from her."

"So? That's not an excuse for not doing your damn job!" Ibiki yelled, scaring the shit out of the poor guy. He cooled down and turned back to Karin. "And not only that, but you escaped prison and the village without anyone noticing you. How did that happen?"

"I'm a sensor, so I could sense where people were when I escaped prison. I just hid whenever I sensed someone coming. I sensed Sasuke was in the village too, so I found him and went with him to the battlefield," Karin said, feigning boredom, hoping if she just gave straight answers this would be over with soon.

"Yes…if I remember correctly, your comrade Sasuke left you to die. So what made you return to him? Why would you risk your life again for a war that doesn't even concern you?"

_Shit. He wants to push my buttons. I won't let him._

"I dunno. I was bored, I guess," Karin said, staring off at the wall. "When are we going to be done with this? I didn't do anything, I swear. I even helped revive Tsunade-sama; you can ask her."

"That may be true, but the fact of the matter is you went back to taking orders from Sasuke Uchiha, and overall, he doesn't exactly have the best record. You were his comrade when he attacked the Kage summit and the Eight-tails Jinchuuriki, were you not?" Ibiki questioned in the same calm, even tone that was starting to annoy Karin.

"Yeah. But I didn't hurt anyone. I just healed Sasuke," Karin said shortly.

Ibiki continued to press Karin on what she was required to do under Sasuke's orders and what his motives were. Karin kept her answers short and vague, hoping to annoy Ibiki, but he kept firmly pressing her.

"And so you're telling me that after being a missing nin who joined up with the terrorist Orochimaru for three years, attacked the Kage summit, and tried to capture the Eight-tails Jinchuuriki, he now wants to protect the village?"

"Yup," Karin piped up.

"Interesting," said Ibiki as he took down some notes.

"So are we done now? Can I have some pork katsu curry?" Karin asked rudely, drooling over the thought of some nice, warm food.

"We are _far _from done," Ibiki replied, eliciting an exasperated groan from Karin. "Although I believe that you are not a threat to the village, the fact of the matter is that you are an unregistered ninja with no affiliation except to Orochimaru and Sasuke Uchiha, who _were_. We're going to need to keep you here until Sasuke's trial is over, and I'll be honest with you, I don't know how long that will be."

Karin began to feel desperate. She _needed_ get out of that place. She then started to tremble and produce the best fake tears that she possibly could.

"Please, sir, I know in my heart that Sasuke is good now and I was just a poor, naïve girl who would do anything for the man she loved! I was prepared to sacrifice my life multiple times…If I could only just be with him right now…" she pouted.

"Spare me your false tears. You're _smart_, girl; you know that won't work on me," Ibiki snapped. "The best thing you can do for yourself is give us as much information as possible on Sasuke Uchiha and your other comrades, for that matter. What do you know about them?"

Karin wiped away a tear dramatically. "They're vile; I don't know how Sasuke could work with such villains. Juugo is a mentally unstable experiment of Orochimaru's. He would never harm a fly while he's conscious, but if something triggers him, he goes on murderous rampages. Only Sasuke can control him. So without Sasuke, who knows what that monster would do?"

"As for the other one," she continued, "he is a foul creature who has committed the worst crime in existence."

"Suigetsu Hozuki?" asked Ibiki. "What crime did he commit?"

"Being an annoying, stupid, smelly, lecherous, lazy cretin who got in the way of me and Sasuke."

Ibiki was clearly not amused.

"I've had enough of this one for today. Send her back to her cell. We'll try this again tomorrow."

Karin thought she would've been exhausted after getting no sleep the previous night, but somehow she was having trouble falling asleep yet again. She turned on her back. No good. She rolled over to her side. No good. She shifted onto her stomach. Still no good. She was so frustratingly delirious, yet she still couldn't quite slip into a slumber.

Karin had always been a heavy sleeper. Her mother used to put her out in no time. Every night, she would tell her a story before she went to sleep. One story Karin remembered was about the fisherman named Urashima Taro who saved a turtle and then got to go to the palace of a sea princess. He stayed there and feasted, but when he went back up to land, years had passed and his family had died. In the end, the sea princess turned him into a crane, but Karin didn't quite understand why…

"_Move your lazy ass, Urashima Taro_!" _Karin barked at Suigetsu._

"_But it's so hot," Suigetsu whined._

" _But you're made of water!"_

"_Water absorbs heat, you stupid bitch. It's probably not helping that you're the mistress of hell on top of that…"_

"_WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" And with a giant splash, Karin punched Suigetsu._

_And then there were black flames all around, and Sasuke came and carried her off across his back. Or was that Juugo? No, it was Juugo. Not Sasuke._

_Sasuke was out cold, sleeping like a baby. Karin crept closer to him, wishing to caress his angelic face. They were surrounded by a strange, dark space filled with platforms. As she went over to touch him, he muttered, "Sakura."_

_Sasuke was falling, falling and Karin couldn't reach him in time. She was crying hysterically._

"_He's going to die! I have to save him…I have to…" Karin cried and the chains came out and all she could feel was Madara stabbing her. And then she saw Sakura crying above her as she healed the wound in her chest._

_You're my enemy but…please don't cry! Sakura sobbed into Sasuke's torn up shirt with the Uchiha symbol._

"_Hey, that's mine, bitch!" Karin yelled as she grabbed the torn up shirt from Sakura, except it was Juugo._

"_Karin, what are you doing? Isn't that Sasuke's?" Juugo asked._

"_W-what are you talking about?" Karin stammered, hiding the shirt behind her back._

_I have to get rid of that oaf and the kappa later so I can ravage Sasuke, kukukukuku._

_Rrrrrrrip. Karin felt the fabric of the shirt come apart as she straddled Sasuke, grinding her hips on top of his hard-on. She shoved her tongue into his mouth, kissing him passionately. With quite a lot of force, he rolled over so he was on top of her. Except when Karin looked up, she saw white hair and a toothy smirk attached to a body that was too beautiful to belong to such a disgusting fish. He whispered in her ear, "You feisty bitch…I'll make you so wet that you'll forget all about Sasuke."_

_And then Karin's head was resting in Suigetsu's chest. She stroked his stomach._

"_Wow. You're absolutely *hic* incredible," she slurred._

"_Heh. You're not too bad yourself, babe." Suigetsu smirked and took another swig of wine from the bottle._

"_That's it! I'm done with that sonnuvabitch Sasuke! Fuck that bastard!" Karin yelled drunkenly as she grabbed the bottle from Suigetsu's hands and took another chug._

"_What if he hears you?" Suigetsu laughed._

"_Then I'll tell 'em…YOU…YOU PIECE OF…OF…CROW…FECES!"_

_Suigetsu snorted._

"_I'd rather be stabbed by __**your**__ sword any day over his limp noodle." _

_But then Suigetsu's face looked concerned and he asked, "Karin? Why are you crying? KARIN!"_

_All of a sudden, Karin was held in a deadlock by Danzou._

"_Sasuke!" she cried out._

"_Karin, hold still," Sasuke said calmly. And then the lightning came piercing through._

"_Someone who got herself caught so easily is of no use to me."_

"_S-sasuke?"_

_Karin's life flashed before her eyes and the last thing she remembered was Sasuke's cold, creepy stare. _

"_Goodbye."_

Karin woke with a start. She had no idea how long she had been asleep, but it was not nearly long enough.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Sasuke's fate was still up in the air. At least, that's what Karin heard. For all she knew it could be raining cats and dogs outside; that's how isolated she was. She hadn't even seen that asshole Suigetsu around, and wondered if he was swimming around like a mermaid in a tank somewhere. The thought made her smile for some reason.

Ibiki pressed her again and Karin continued to flatly say what she always said, "Nothing to do with it. Just healing Sasuke" and "No, he does not have X plan to cause Y effect on the village." Ibiki knew Karin told the truth, however, so he didn't torture her. He even let her have her diary back to placate her.

Karin spent the rest of the day sketching; drawing had been a hobby of hers before she started this wild goose chase with Sasuke. She drew flowers and complex geometric shapes and handsome, masculine faces. She drew Sasuke posing in the nude, except she made him smirking as to convey some sort of emotion. Then she wrote in her diary:

_10/16_

_So happy I got this back! But what if someone read it and knows all my secrets? I might just have to kill that person._

_The day was boring. Ibiki asked me more questions but it's not like I'm going to tell him that Sasuke is some evil mastermind. Because he's not. _

_I wonder what Sasuke is doing right now? Is he done with his trial? I can't bear to think of the horrible things they might be doing to my poor Sasuke._

_Where is Suigetsu? Has he been released already or is he still swimming in a fish tank? Does he remember what happened between us or is he trying to forget it like me?_

_By the way, when you're reading this in the future I hope by that time you won't know what I'm talking about._

_Also I don't know where Juugo is. Or Orochimaru-sama. Or Kabuto._

_I'm bored and I hate this place._

For the first time in two days, Karin got a good night's sleep.

The next morning, Karin was ecstatic to find out that after much deliberation, the Fifth Hokage and her council had decided that Sasuke could re-register as a Konoha ninja. His only consequences would be 100 hours of community service, confiscation of some of the Uchiha land to make an embassy for the village of the hidden cloud, and 24/7 Anbu surveillance for six months. Karin figured that the Hokage realized that it would be stupid to give Sasuke a harsher punishment when he helped take out so many threats to Konoha. Karin figured Sasuke would not be too happy about his punishments.

Still, there were far worse things that could happen.

Sasuke's release also meant that Karin could go free! Ibiki released her himself and told her if she committed any acts of violence against a Konoha citizen she would be exiled (the same went for Sasuke). That wouldn't be too hard, Karin hoped. He also recommended that she go to the village hall to register herself. He even gave her back her clothes and money.

Sasuke be damned, the first thing Karin was going to do was grab some grub. She went to the first okonomiyaki stand she saw and bought one with pork belly and vegetables. It was so damn good she nearly cried.

Karin had a great sense of direction so she was able to find her way to the village hall with ease. As she got in line for the registration, she heard all sorts of gossip. Some people were saying Sasuke had bribed the council with money since he had been left with quite a fortune after his entire clan died. Others were saying that Naruto Uzumaki had threatened to leave the village if Sasuke got even a year in prison. Karin, much to her disgust, even heard that Sasuke had slept with the Hokage. _He would never with such an old hag. The things people come up with when they're bored_.

That didn't stop Karin from imagining herself with huge breasts and a Hokage dominatrix outfit made of leather, whipping a naked Sasuke with a gag in his mouth. _You bad, bad boy…don't you dare betray the village again! _Karin started drooling.

"Did they suck your brains out in prison or what?" an all-too-familiar voice called out. Karin whipped around and saw Suigetsu leaning up against a pole outside of the line. Around his forehead was a hidden mist forehead protector.

"You! They let you out?" Karin asked.

"I told you earlier; I told them Sasuke was my only way out and now that they aren't gonna' fry him, I'm okay. They probably have Anbu watching me as a precaution, but I ain't gonna' do anything so I should be all set for now. And now I'm even a genin from the hidden mist again, although it sucks that I'll have to take the chunin exam with a bunch of brats."

Karin tried to picture Suigetsu in a three-man squad with some twelve-year-olds, and she wanted to laugh. He'd probably accidentally chop their heads off – or maybe purposefully, if they were annoying enough.

"Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke are still genin too, though. All they'd need to do is snap their fingers and you'd be blown to bits," she said.

"Good point! Man, I would _not_ want to be up against either of them. I'll just wait for them to take it, and then I'll take it after them and 1-hit-KO all the brats." Suigetsu laughed.

"Coward. Beating the shit out of little kids because you can't compare to Sasuke," Karin mocked him.

"Sasuke will have to do that too if he wants to get through the chunin exams! It can't be helped!" Suigetsu groaned in exasperation. Then he scratched his head. "Sooooo…what are you doing after you register?" The way he asked it almost sounded like he was asking her out.

"What do you think, stupid? I'm going to go find Sasuke, of course," she responded shortly.

"I guess I'll go with you. I'm running low on dough and need a place to crash for the next few days. Maybe Sasuke will help me. He owes me that much, at least," said Suigetsu.

Before Karin knew it, it was her turn to go. After a long and tedious process, she finally registered as a hidden grass ninja. She figured she could just register there for now and re-apply as a Konoha nin if she decided to stick around. She received a new forehead protector and a document with photo ID.

Suigetsu was still waiting for her, much to her annoyance.

"Oooooh, can I see how awful your picture is? Please?" he begged.

"Only if you show me how hideous yours is," she replied.

Suigetsu showed her his card. His toothy grin made him look like a homicidal maniac.

"You look like a homicidal maniac," she remarked.

"Just doin' my job," he responded light-heartedly. "Now show me yours."

"Ugh. Fine," said Karin. She held out her card. She thought she looked okay; her smile was a little forced but she didn't think it was _too _fake. Suigetsu snorted.

"Bwahahaha! You know what you look like there?"

"Don't you dare—" Karin could already feel herself getting angry.

"You know when you take a giant shit and you feel so happy afterwards because you got it all out? Well, that's what you look like," he sniggered.

Karin punched him, of course, causing him to splash all over a poor old woman next to them. Out of fear of being sent back to jail, they bribed her with most of their remaining money. They bickered on whose fault it was all the way to where Karin sensed Sasuke. They stopped in front of an apartment complex with four Anbu guarding the outside.

"Step aside! We need to see Sasuke," Karin demanded.

"You don't have the authority to see him at the moment," said one of the Anbu.

"But we're his comrades. Surely he told you about us!" Karin responded. _Has Sasuke forgotten about me already?_

"Look, we know you're just doing your job but all we're looking for is a place to crash since we don't live here," added Suigetsu. "You can even spy on us too if you'd like. I've got nothing to hide, although surely there are some things I don't think you want to see me do…"

"Shut up, Suigetsu!"

"Oh come on, Karin, wouldn't you love to have their jobs? You could watch Sasuke take a shower, take a leak…I wonder if even he jerks off?" Suigetsu mused, embarrassing Karin to the point where she was ready to beat him up again.

"W-why would I want to do such a repulsive thing?" Karin stammered as she adjusted her glasses, her cheeks burning.

The Anbu members just kind of stood there awkwardly for a few seconds. Then they huddled in a group and started whispering to each other. Finally, one of them said, "Fine, you two may go in but everything you do and say will be monitored."

"Fine with me," said Suigetsu as he swung the door open. Karin could feel her heartbeat accelerate. _This is where Sasuke lives! I wonder if I'll get to see his bedroom? _

As soon as Karin entered, she felt her lungs fill with dust. She started coughing.

"Juugo, who is that?" she heard Sasuke's voice call from down the hallway.

"It's Suigetsu and Karin," Juugo replied.

"Jeez Sasuke, haven't been here in awhile, huh?" Suigetsu muttered as he swatted some dust in the air. As Karin entered through the hallway she saw Juugo in an apron tidying up the drawers around Sasuke's bed, which was connected to the kitchen. The room had large windows, which Karin could tell – even though they were dirty from neglect – had a great view of the village. Sasuke was sitting on a chair, reading some documents. He no longer wore his light blue zippered top and roped pants, but a black top with a high neck and navy blue sweatpants. Karin realized she had never seen him looking this casual.

"Ah. It's you two," was all he said before going back to whatever he was reading.

"How come you didn't tell the Anbu that we could visit?" asked Karin, who was still trying to absorb every little detail of Sasuke's apartment, from the wall scrolls to the wooden floor to the outline of the bathroom.

"I guess I didn't think about it. I no longer need you two to do anything for me so you're free to do whatever you wish now," he said bluntly. Karin felt her heart sink a little.

"Yeah, about that…I see that Juugo is crashing at your place. You do owe me for all the work I did for you. The least you could do is let me stay with you for a week or two. As soon as I have enough money to travel, I'll be on my way to continue collecting swords," said Suigetsu.

"Me too," Karin chimed in, "I barely have any money either and I need a place to stay." Her eyes darted over to some turned down picture frames near the windowsill. Curiously, she started creeping over to them.

"The reason why I'm letting Juugo stay with me temporarily is because there is no one who can help him calm down except me should he go on a rampage. Until the medical ninja in charge of researching his curse seal gets back to us, it is for everyone's best interest that he stays near me," Sasuke explained. "As for you two…I don't know if this would be the best place to stay. It would be too crowded in here, and I already have to be babysat for half a year." Sasuke's voice turned sour as he motioned outside to where the Anbu were stationed.

"And I thought we were friends, Sasuke," Suigetsu replied, feigning disappointment. "Then can you at least give me compensation for my services so I can find a hotel room?"

"Fair enough. I'll give you more than enough for lodgings and a month's worth of food. But after that you're on your own. You too, Karin."

"Huh?" Karin whipped around nervously. She had just been caught dusting off one of the picture frames near the windowsill. It was a picture of Sasuke's team from when – Karin assumed – they had first become genin. Kakashi was in the middle, ruffling the hair of a frowning Sasuke and a scowling Naruto. Sakura smiled cheerfully in the middle.

"Put that back," Sasuke snapped.

"S-sorry," Karin stammered sheepishly, placing the photo frame gently on the windowsill. For some reason, she felt tears brimming in her eyes. She saw Sasuke get up and remove a floorboard filled with boxes of money. _How could he just throw me out on the curb again after all I've done for him?_

"If Suigetsu isn't with us, then there's no reason why I can't stay here. I won't cause a ruckus if he's not around," she said, her voice a bit shaky.

"I could say the same, but you don't see me whining. Do you honestly want those Anbu to watch you crap, Karin?" Suigetsu responded, but Karin ignored him.

"Are you seriously just going to throw me out again after everything I've done for you? After all the help I've given you even when you tried to kill me?"

"Whoa," said Suigetsu, "is that really what happened?"

Sasuke's face was completely calm. "Suigetsu, Juugo, please go outside for a minute."

Juugo obeyed at once, but Suigetsu stood there. "Dude, Sasuke…what the fuck…is that true? I didn't realize _you_ were the one who… I thought you hit it and split it after someone else stabbed her."

"Suigetsu, leave us," said Sasuke.

"No, I won't. Cuz' I need to know if you really meant to kill her," Suigetsu insisted, his voice boiling over with more rage than Karin had ever heard. Karin was shocked that Suigetsu cared so much. Still, she wanted him the fuck out of there.

"Suigetsu, just do what Sasuke says and take a hike!" Karin barked at him.

"You know what? Fine. I'll leave you two lovebirds to deal with your fucked up relationship!" And with that, Suigetsu angrily stormed out the door. He didn't even take any money. An Anbu came rushing in.

"What's going on in here?" she asked, but Sasuke just stared calmly at Karin. She glared back at him.

"Karin, there is nothing I could possibly say to atone for what I did to you, so there's no point in even saying sorry again. I have no idea why you even want to be around me anymore," he said coolly.

"I have absolutely nowhere to go. You're the only one I have, Sasuke," Karin whispered quietly.

"Karin, I cannot give you what you want and you know it. Train; look for work; just do _something_ to make yourself better and don't waste your time on me."

Karin's throat was burning and she could feel tears welling in her eyes. She hated Sasuke and she hated herself even more for turning into such a weakling around him.

"I think it would be best if we kept our distance for now. I have a lot of things to sort out and you do too," he said quietly.

Karin stood there crying for what seemed like eternity. She snorted and reached for a tissue to blow her nose into. Ashamed of her weakness, she ripped it into shreds.

"I don't want your fucking tissues! Or your fucking pity or your fucking money for that matter!"

"Understood. You are free to leave; nothing is keeping you here. I do owe you, however, so I offer you this: I have the keys to my aunt and uncle's house in the abandoned Uchiha district. They have a bedroom and a kitchen and everything you could need to get you on your feet. You can stay there for a while."

Karin didn't say anything. Sasuke reached down in the floorboard and grabbed a generous stack of money.

"Here. Give this to Suigetsu. Would you like some as well?"

"No thank you," Karin muttered emotionlessly as she stuffed the cash meant for Suigetsu in her jacket pocket. Sasuke gently placed the key in her hand.

"Goodbye Karin."

After that, everything was a whir. Hours later, Karin suddenly found herself on a dark road with just a few benches. She looked up at the moonlight and scribbled in her journal:

10/17

_My life is over_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Karin tried to take a nap on the bench outside but with the autumn air, it was just too cold. She decided that the only way she'd be able to get through the night was with some company, so reluctantly, she went to go find Suigetsu.

She finally sensed his chakra downtown and found him in a bar. Somehow he had managed to acquire a few drinks despite being underage. He had engorged his arm and was using it to arm wrestle with some beefy guys.

"Ha! I win again. That's 1000 for me," he announced gleefully. A small crowd cheered.

"Anyone else stupid enough to challenge shark boy here?" slurred a drunken old man who was sloshing his beer around.

"Yeah. Me," Karin announced loudly.

"Karin!" Suigetsu gasped.

"That yer' girlfriend?" the drunken old man asked, but Suigetsu ignored him.

"Karin, are you okay?" he asked.

"No. I'm pissed off and nothing would make me feel better more than fighting you right now. So let's do it. _With_ your stupid fapping arm."

Suigetsu scowled. "You're gonna' lose."

"Yeah whatever. Come on," Karin said as she rolled up her sleeves. All of a sudden, Karin heard several cries of, "I'm betting 2000 on the nerdy chick!" and "Whoever loses has to strip!"

"Ready…" the old drunken man started.

Karin stared intensely at Suigetsu, who still looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Set…"

"May the best woman win," Karin said sardonically.

"GO!"

It was easy for Karin at first, but as soon as Suigetsu snapped at out of his daze he started to fight back. _Damn, he's strong_, Karin thought. Yet, she fought back even harder until they were in a deadlock.

"Where did you get this upper body strength?" whined Suigetsu. "I thought it all went straight to your ass."

"OH NO HE DIDN'T!" several drunks jeered.

In a fury, Karin increased her strength to maximum and pummeled Suigetsu's arm to the table.

"THE NERDY CHICK WON. SHIT!" Karin heard several drunks scream and toast to each other.

"Damn, girl," Suigetsu said as he shook his arm out, "I'm not going to lie, that was impressive."

"You'd better believe it, bitch! Next round is on me, everyone!" Karin announced as everyone cheered.

"Uh, Karin. You're underage," Suigetsu pointed out.

"Oh yeah, right…next round is on this dude right here!" Karin yelled as she pointed to the old guy. He was so drunk that he cheered along with everyone anyways.

Karin sat back down, feeling as if her day had just turned a complete 180. Suigetsu just kind of stared at her.

"Sooo…uhhhh…what's up?" he asked awkwardly.

"Oh you know, drama. But at least fucking Sasuke gave me the keys to his aunt and uncle's house. Oh, and he told me to give this to you." Karin threw the stack of money at Suigetsu.

"T-thanks," he replied, taken aback. "So...he didn't hurt you or anything, right?"

"Nah. That's a thing of the past. We talked it out."

"Good. Listen, Karin…I hate to be a burden, but can I stay with you? At least for tonight?"

"Sure. Why not? Just don't get any ideas, buddy," Karin warned him.

"Really? Yeah, of course…pshhhh…like _that'd _ever happen in a million years," Suigetsu teased, making Karin question if what he said was some sort of inside joke. She decided not to think about it.

As the night went on, there was raucous laughter and heavy drinking. Karin was very conscientious of how much she drank, as she did not trust herself around Suigetsu while under the influence. Suigetsu, on the other hand, was shit-faced. When the bar closed at two in the morning, Suigetsu had to lean on Karin for support. They started walking in the direction of the abandoned Uchiha district.

"Oh mannnn this was an epic night. Epic night," Suigetsu slurred.

"When you started singing and dancing on the table, I couldn't believe it was you," Karin said excitedly. "Your voice actually wasn't half bad."

"Why thank you—I'm a man of many hidden talents. I can play the guitar, ya know."

"WHAT? That's CRAZZZZY!" Karin yelled a little too loudly.

"Yeah huh. That's how I won last year's Mr. Merman pageant and they gave me a crown and said I was the most beautiful fishy in the sea," Suigetsu giggled. Karin laughed hysterically.

"You are so fucking drunk right now!" she laughed.

"But Karrrrrin, you weren't there. Orochimaru-sama was so jealous of me that he threatened to steal my beautiful voice, but Sasuke swooped me up in his _**strong MANLY**_arms and we rode off into the sunset." Suigetsu said "strong and manly" in a really funny voice. Karin snorted.

"You know, you're not so bad after all. Especially when you're drunk," she said.

"Yeah, you too. When I first met you I was all like 'Heyyyyyyy she's kind of cute' and then you were all like 'I AM SUCH A BITCH. SASUKE. RAWR.' and I was like 'WAHHHH!' and you were all like 'Suigetsu shut upppppppp'," he said expressively, moving his hands as if they were talking to each other.

"Hey. HEY. Don't act like you're the victim here! Ever since I've known your fishy ass you've been insulting me and shit like 'Hey FOUREYES' and comparing me to a rabid squirrel and calling me ugly and fat and stupid, like, 20 times a day," Karin complained.

"Welllllll that's cuz' you weren't paying attention to meeee!" Suigetsu whined like a little kid.

"What are you like, five?"

"Yeah."

They approached the Uchiha district. Since no one lived there, it was an eerie sight to see; the buildings were run down, the paint was faded and chipped, and most of the street lights were either broken or flickering. Only stray animals roamed these parts nowadays. The cold fall wind moaned.

"Karin, I'm scarrrred," Suigetsu whined again, huddling himself close to Karin. Her heart skipped a beat and she felt butterflies rise in her stomach.

"Oh, don't be such a baby," she snapped at him.

Karin pulled a crumpled piece of paper with the address of the house written on it. They came across a nice-sized house. The green paint was faded, but at least it hadn't been destroyed by the attack on Konoha, unlike many of the surrounding houses. Karin leaned Suigetsu against a wall while she opened the door to the house.

Of course, the house was even dustier than Sasuke's apartment had been. It made sense though. After all, how long ago had the Uchiha massacre been…ten years ago? And no one had wanted to settle in such a cursed area, Karin presumed. Suigetsu lazily walked in and landed face first into a couch. He coughed as dust rose from the furniture and lazily swatted it away.

"We'll have to clean in the morning, but I'm exhausted; I'm going to go to bed. There's only one bedroom, so you can sleep on the couch down here."

Karin expected to hear some sort of complaint from Suigetsu, but she quickly realized that he was already passed out. She yawned and headed upstairs to the dusty bedroom. The moonlight filtered in through the shades, illuminating the dust speckles levitating in the air. Karin coughed a bit and crawled on the bed. The mattress was really uncomfortable, but Karin was so tired that she could deal with it.

Madara Uchiha had somehow found her. He had Sasuke, Juugo, and Suigetsu all bound up. Karin tried to untie them, but her legs wouldn't move. He started stabbing them repeatedly in front of her. She was screaming and crying for him to stop. Then, she felt his red eyes turn into the rinnegan and lock onto hers as her body completely froze. All she saw was the bright red moon with the spirals and spirals and spirals…

"_Oh, Sasuke!_" Karin sighed as she rested her head against Sasuke's chest. "_That was amazing!"_

"_No…__**you**__ were amazing," _Sasuke replied as he stroked her hair.

And then she was walking with Sasuke, hand in hand.

"_Where are we going_?" she asked excitedly.

"_Home, of course_," he replied. He smiled as they walked to the door. All of a sudden, Karin was squeezed super tight by an older red-haired woman.

"_It's been so long, Karin! Your mother was so worried about you_!" she cried.

"_Mom!" _Karin cried.

"_You're all grown up, Karin," _said Karin's father as he appeared in the doorway.

Karin started to cry.

"_Why are you crying? It's as if you've seen a ghost!"_ said Sasuke.

"_I'm not crying!_" Karin insisted.

The evening went on with great food and laughter. Karin's friends were all there too. Sasuke wrapped his arm around her as she told all of her family and friends about her adventures. There were giant bears and snakes and even an octopus…

Yes, this was happy. But something didn't feel right.

Karin looked down to see the blood staining her shirt through her chest. Sasuke's cold, dark eyes bore into hers.

"_Sa-sasuke?_" she squeaked.

"_Open your eyes_," he hissed.

Karin woke up with a gasp to see that it was still dark outside. She must have been out for only an hour. She shivered.

_This place gives me the creeps. I can just feel all the angry spirits._

Karin tossed and turned. She tried to fall back asleep, but felt sick to her stomach. She thought she saw a shadow whir by in the corner of the room and nearly had a heart attack. She remembered how when she was really young, she would go into her parent's room and crawl into bed with them when she was scared.

_Damn it_. Swallowing her pride, she got out of bed and tiptoed downstairs, nearly falling down. She crept over to Suigetsu, who was snoring loudly and still passed out on the couch.

"_Suigetsu. SUIGETSU, WAKE UP," _she hissed. His snoring came to a halt, but he just rolled over.

"_Suigetsu!_" she slapped him harshly on the back.

"W-whwat?" Suigetsu moaned groggily.

"I…uhhh…look! Don't get any ideas or anything but I'm not used to being alone so uhhh…could you keep me company?" Karin muttered, deliberately not looking at Suigetsu.

"Ehhhhh…you woke me up for _that_? And I'm hung over too, shit." He rubbed his face.

"I'm scared, okay!" Karin confessed. "This place gives me the creeps."

"And she said _I_ was a baby! Sure, sure, come on then, let's go," Suigetsu yawned as he followed Karin back up the stairs.

"I'll let you sleep on the bed but absolutely no touching!" Karin stipulated.

"Whatever you say," Suigetsu said lazily as he climbed into bed. Karin climbed in on the opposite side, turning her back away from Suigetsu. Yet, his presence made Karin feel safe, and she eventually drifted back to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Karin awoke much later to the sound of rain pattering on the windowsill. She groaned and rolled over to see Suigetsu sprawled out on his back, breathing heavily.

_That's right. I did let him sleep here last night, but nothing happened. _

She crawled over to look at his face.

_His breath absolutely reeks._

Disgusted, Karin crawled out of bed. She had no idea what time it was. The digital clock by the bedside had been unplugged. As she walked downstairs to the kitchen, it dawned on her that they had no food to eat. _Damn it_.

After taking a shower and tidying up as best as she could without any supplies, Karin went downtown to go buy groceries and toiletries. She had a cloak from her days in Akatsuki, but the rain was still soaking through to her body and obstructing her view through her glasses. The streets were oddly bare, even for a rainy day. As she went shopping, she noticed that most were dressed in black. Two and two clicked together; there must be some sort of memorial service.

After she bought what she needed, Karin walked to Konoha's center just out of curiosity.

_Perfect weather for a funeral_, she thought.

There were so many people that Karin could barely see what was going on, but microphones were hooked up and she could hear a list of names being read. That depressed Karin, and she started to think of her parents and all her friends when she was a child. She left quickly before any unpleasant memories could be triggered.

Karin returned back to the house and was pleasantly surprised to find that the gas for the stove could still be turned on. She fried some eggs to eat.

_Is that kappa still asleep? It has got to be afternoon by now…_, she thought.

She went to go check in on Suigetsu. He was stirring feebly on the bed.

"Come on, I made some eggs. Get your lazy ass out of bed!" she demanded.

"But I feel so gross," he moaned. He was hung over, all right. Karin _tsked_ and went downstairs to clean.

The next two days passed by uneventfully. Karin spent most of her time in bed masturbating, worrying about Sasuke, or sleeping. She only got up to go to the bathroom and eat. By the third day Karin couldn't muster the motivation to get out of bed at all. Suigetsu eventually figured out that something was up and confronted her.

"Look, you can't stay all cooped up in here forever. Why don't you go train?" he asked.

"I am perfectly fine. Leave me alone," Karin muttered.

"No, you're not. You look terrible. You've barely been eating or talking. The Karin _I_ know is a fucking blabber mouth bitch. But now you're just a ratty old hairball."

"Gee, thanks," Karin replied sarcastically.

"Well, it's true. It's not like you to be this lazy. You must be depressed. Why don't you go out and exercise? You could even spar with me, if you want. Don't worry, I'll go easy on you," he teased.

"Fine. I won't lose to _you_," Karin said, finally prying herself out of bed. She had always wanted to have a _real_ fight with Suigetsu, unlike the one-sided pummelings she normally gave him.

They went to a training area on a grassy field. Karin knew that Suigetsu was strong, but she believed she had a good chance of taking him without his sword. She lunged at him and tried to kick him over, but he caught her leg and flipped her over. She got back up and tried to punch him, but he met most of her hits. Even when she got a punch in to his chest, he just liquefied it.

"Your speed is good but your taijutsu skills suck," he remarked.

He was right. It had been months since Karin had practiced her taijutsu, and it had never really been a strong suit of hers anyways. She was a sensor, and she wasn't used to close combat. When she did have to fight physically, she preferred long distance attacking. She found herself getting exhausted trying to keep up with him. By the end of their sparring, she was panting and sweating.

"Looks like I won," Suigetsu said was a huge grin.

"I was really out of it today," Karin said dismissively.

"Perhaps. But I'll also have you know that I was probably only using 50% of my full strength," he bragged.

"Then how come I beat you in arm wrestling?"

"When you catch me by surprise, it takes me aback. Plus, I wasn't using my full strength then, either," Suigetsu answered.

_SPLASH! _Karin's fist landed in Suigetsu's gut.

"Like that?" she jeered.

Suigetsu recomposed himself.

"Sort of. But even when you punch me like a crazy bitch I am prepared enough to liquefy. If you truly caught me off guard, you would punch my physical body—"

_WHAM_. Karin knocked Suigetsu over and straddled him. She punched him in the face repeatedly but he just kept on liquefying.

"Stupid-ingrate-how-come-I-can't-hit-you?" Karin yelled between punches.

"I'm prepared for anything when it comes to the most unpredictable kunoichi," Suigetsu laughed, clearly amused that Karin couldn't land a real physical hit.

"U-um, am I interrupting something here?" squeaked a meek voice. Karin whipped around and saw the pale-eyed, violet haired girl from a few days ago. What was her name? Hana? It was then that Karin realized she was straddling Suigetsu. She shrieked and jumped off of him.

"N-nothing! Nothing at all!" Karin stammered, her cheeks red.

"Karin here just gets so _excited _when we spar," Suigetsu teased as he got up, "but I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you joined in on our fun. But first, what is your name, _cutie_?"

_ He's fucking hitting on her! _Karin was sure it was pure disgust, and not jealousy she felt over Suigetsu's attention towards the pretty, violet-haired kunoichi.

Hinata held her arm behind her back uncomfortably and looked away. "It's Hinata Hyuuga. But I, um, am actually waiting for someone…"

_Ah! That's right! She's Naruto's girl!_ Karin gloated in that fact. Now Suigetsu couldn't be a creep.

"Suigetsu, I wouldn't hit on that girl if I were you. She's Naruto's girlfriend," Karin pointed out.

"Whoa!" said Suigetsu.

Hinata's face turned crimson and she jumped nearly a foot back.

"Y-you've got it all wrong! I-I'm not his g-girlfriend, well, at least, not yet…actually I don't really know…ummm…it's complicated," she mumbled quickly and incomprehensibly.

"This girl is worse than you, Karin," Suigetsu remarked, and Karin harrumphed.

"What do you mean you don't know if you're his girlfriend? I totally saw him flirting with you the other day," said Karin.

"R-really?" Hinata muttered in embarrassment, looking away.

"HINATA! Sorry I'm late!" came a loud, obnoxious voice from the end of the training field. Hinata was caught off guard and jumped again. It was of course, Naruto himself.

"It's okay, Naruto-kun!" Hinata called over to him. As he approached, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Aren't you two Sasuke's comrades? What are you doing here?" he asked. Hinata looked really confused.

"Eh, we're not really with Sasuke right now. We were just training here," Suigetsu explained.

"So you haven't seen Sasuke lately?" Naruto asked.

"We last saw him three days ago and he basically kicked us out of his house," Suigetsu complained.

"How is Sasuke doing, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked her sorta-kinda-maybe boyfriend.

"Ehhhhh…he's being an idiot but at least he's coming around. I think he's still pissed off about his punishments, but he doesn't understand that I argued my ass off with the higher-ups to give him the mildest punishment possible so he just has to suck it up. And it's really frustrating me because he and Sakura-chan aren't talking at all; it's so awkward," Naruto groaned.

That piece of information made Karin feel relieved. _Good. It's not just me. Sasuke is just trying to sort his feelings out. He didn't dump me for the pink bitch._

"I'm sure he'll come around and your team will be on good terms again," Hinata reassured him.

"Yeah. I hope," Naruto muttered. "Anyways, sorry, I'm really bad with names. What are your names again?"

"Suigetsu Hozuki."

"Any relation to the 2nd Mizukage?" Naruto asked.

"He was my great-uncle, I think. Or was he my grandfather's cousin? Something like that," Suigetsu pondered out loud.

"I actually battled him during the war. He was a pretty cool guy," Naruto told Suigetsu.

"Didn't know him myself, but my grandfather told me he was quite the character," Suigetsu added.

"_Ahem_. I'm here too, you know," Karin interjected.

"Oh, what's this? Feeling left out, Karin?" Suigetsu teased her. Usually _he_ was the one fighting to get a word in.

"I'm sorry, Karin, I really should've remembered your name…" Naruto apologized sheepishly to Karin.

"It's fine. And speaking of relations, I'm your distant cousin or something. We're both from the Uzumaki clan," Karin said.

"I didn't know that!" Suigetsu exclaimed.

"Wow! Well, it makes sense, with the red hair and all. My mom had red hair, too. It's good to finally know someone I'm related to. We should hang out sometime!" Naruto exclaimed. He then looked over at Hinata, who had been very quiet.

"Well, why don't we start training, Hinata? You're the perfect person to work on my taijutsu with."

"You're much better than me, Naruto-kun," Hinata said shyly.

"But my form sucks! You're _so_ much better than me when it comes to technique," Naruto insisted, and Hinata seemed to accept the compliment with a blush this time.

"Nice to meet you two. See ya' around!" Naruto called to Suigetsu and Karin. Hinata said the same shyly. The pair then walked over to some training posts to start sparring.

"He's like, the complete opposite of Sasuke," Suigetsu observed.

"I know, right? Nice chakra too," Karin agreed.

"Oh-ho, what's this? You moving on from Sasuke to this guy?" Suigetsu joked. "Too bad for you though; he already has a girlfriend."

"I am _not_ into Naruto. Besides, he's my distant relative," Karin retorted.

"Who knew you actually had some talent in your genes? Must be masked by all the crazy," Suigetsu jeered.

"Don't make me punch you again," Karin warned.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyways, I'm hungry. Want to grab a bite to eat?" he asked.

"No, I'm not hungry. I think I'll watch Naruto train. I'm curious to see what he can do," Karin said. Truthfully, she _was_ hungry but she didn't want to be seen with Suigetsu. It would look like they were on a date. Plus, she genuinely was curious about Naruto's abilities.

"Fine, I'll go all by my lonesome while you drool over blondie there," Suigetsu fake-pouted. Karin glared at him. _Stupid Suigetsu._

She watched as Hinata fought Naruto using a very refined stance. Karin figured it might have something to do with her clan. The violet-haired girl gracefully tried to hit Naruto's chakra points, but he fought back competently. His speed was not as good as Sasuke's, but he could defend himself just as well. Hinata was quick on her feet, though, and managed to land a few hits to Naruto's chakra points.

_She could seriously fuck someone up with that ability_, Karin thought. It was one thing to land physical damage, but internal damage to chakra points could totally prevent someone from using ninjutsu or genjutsu. Karin hoped that she would never have to fight her, as she depended almost entirely on ninjutsu and would be nothing without her massive stores of chakra.

What impressed Karin the most about Naruto was his stamina. Even after Hinata landed a few hits on him, he still had plenty of chakra flowing through his body. It was clearly the Uzumaki bloodline that gave him that never-ending supply of chakra. Eventually, Hinata ran out of stamina and the two had to call it quits. They exchanged some words that Karin couldn't hear, and then Naruto ran off. Hinata was going to leave as well, but Karin ran after her.

"Wait! Where are you going?" she asked.

"Home," Hinata answered.

"Mind if I walk with you? I'm still getting used to the geography of the village and want to learn my way around," Karin said.

"Not at all," Hinata replied pleasantly.

Karin really didn't need help finding her way, but she was curious to get to know Hinata. What was it about her that had captured Naruto – the village hero's – interest? And if Naruto was the opposite of Sasuke and this was the kind of girl he liked, then was Karin the opposite of Hinata?

"I watched you spar with him. You really held your own. Does everyone in your clan fight like that?" Karin asked.

"Yes. Everyone in the Hyuuga clan has the byakugan, so we can see the chakra points of others. My father is the clan head, so he taught me how to fight using gentle fist style," Hinata explained.

"Naruto must be impressed with your strength if he chooses to spar with you."

Hinata blushed. "He's not even using his full strength at all. I know what he's capable of; he worked so hard to get to where he is now. It's an honor to train with him even though I'm nowhere near as strong as he is. I want to work as hard as he does to improve."

"You really love him, don't you?" Karin asked sympathetically.

"H-how did you know?" Hinata asked nervously as she covered her blushing cheeks with her hands.

"Women's intuition," Karin replied, "although even without intuition, it's written all over your face when you talk about him. Why don't you just tell him how you feel?"

"I..uh…I already have," Hinata whispered in an excited, but nervous voice.

"And what did he say?" Karin didn't want to be nosy, but she was very curious about the situation.

"It's…ummm…complicated," Hinata explained hesitantly.

"You don't have to go on, sorry. I'm just being nosy," said Karin.

"It's okay, Karin-san…I confessed my love for him in the craziest of ways. It was really stupid of me, actually."

"People do stupid things when they're in love," Karin sighed.

"Y-yeah. The Akatsuki leader, Pain, was going to kill Naruto-kun and I couldn't let that happen, so I just kind of rushed in there without thinking and fought to protect him even though I knew I didn't stand a chance–and that's when I told him."

"Whoa. That is some serious shit," Karin exclaimed in shock. _This girl is either really stupid or totally hardcore. Probably the latter since she fought against Pain and lived. _She reminded her a bit of herself in a way in the sense that she would go to great lengths to protect the ones she loved, but unlike her, it seemed that at least her feelings were reciprocated.

"I can't believe I just told you that," said Hinata. She laughed nervously. "I don't even know you!"

"It's okay. Your secret is safe with me. And it looks like things turned out well for you…I mean, I should _hope_ so after all you went through for him."

"Ummm…well…he was glad I was okay and he was really caring. But things got complicated; he said that he didn't know how to respond to my confession because he had a lot on his mind, so he told me to wait for his answer…and I'm still waiting," Hinata said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Jeez…and how long ago was that, two, three months ago? When a girl confesses to you like _that_ you shouldn't leave her dangling!" Karin yelled. If Hinata wasn't frustrated with the situation, then Karin was clearly frustrated on her behalf.

"I'm optimistic, though. Naruto-kun has been nothing but sweet to me ever since, and he's even gone out of his way to spend time with me. It almost feels like we're together already, but to just hear it from his mouth would be perfect. But if he needs to take things slowly, then he needs to take things slowly. Even if we never get past holding hands, I'd die happy," Hinata said quietly.

"Um, that's a lie. You want to kiss him, right?"

"Well, yeah…" Hinata mumbled sheepishly.

"And he's kind of cute, too. Don't tell me you haven't thought about that hot, tanned bod naked." Karin had to suppress a drool.

"KARIN-SAN!" Hinata buried her red face into her hands, stifling nervous laughter.

"You can just call me Karin. Come on, Hinata, it's totally okay. Naruto is a hottie and you know it. Can't you just see yourself making beautiful babies with him?"

Hinata uncovered her face and said matter-of-factly, "Actually, yes. Yes I can." She tried to keep a straight face but then started giggling, "You're really blunt, but I like that. It's usually very hard for me to open up to people I don't know. I have a lot of social anxiety. But with you, it's easy for some reason. Maybe because you remind me of him a bit…Naruto-kun, that is."

"I guess so; we're related after all. Sorry for being so intrusive but it, like, frustrates me! You're so close, just go out there and get your man! A woman's will can pass even through mountains, you know," Karin said. _What I wouldn't give to be in her situation; her love may actually get requited, whereas mine…_

The two neared a large gated community. Karin knew Hinata came from a powerful family, but _this _was living in style. Perhaps it would be beneficial to continue to spend time with the Hyuuga heiress._ I'm sure she eats only the finest foods and bathes in mineral water and has servants who wait on her. That's the life._

"Thanks for listening, Karin. I've been trying to be more assertive with Naruto-kun, and I will continue to do my best, " she said graciously.

"No problem. I hope I'll see you around later," Karin said, eyeing the large houses beyond the gate. _I wonder if she has a personal chef who makes good okonomiyaki…_

"Oh…and Karin…sorry about Suigetsu-kun. You looked kind of angry when he was talking to me and I felt really bad about it…do you like him?" Hinata asked shyly.

Karin heart skipped a beat and she twitched.

"WHAT?! HIM?! O-OF COURSE NOT! NOT EVEN IF WE WERE THE LAST TWO PEOPLE ON EARTH AND HE WAS NAKED AND WHAT AM I SAYING NO HE IS UGLY, VERY UGLY AND I HATE HIM—" Karin rambled on nervously, which caused Hinata to jump back.

"I'm so sorry! That was so rude of me! Please forgive me," Hinata said, bowing deeply. Karin was ticked, but she felt bad for Hinata so she let it slide.

"Eh, whatever. See ya later, Hinata," she muttered as she walked off.

Even without Suigetsu she still managed to get mistaken for his girlfriend. Damn it.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Good mornin', darlin'," Suigetsu sang as Karin trudged down the stairs in her PJ's, her hair all disheveled. Karin didn't punch him, though. He said this _every _morning; it was part of the routine. Suigetsu would get up early, work out, say: "Good Mornin', Darlin' " to a half-asleep Karin, pester her while she made breakfast, and then clean the dishes. That was their arrangement: she did the cooking, he cleaned the dishes.

It was almost as if they were an old married couple. Almost.

Over some buttered toast and eggs, they talked about the usual: what they did the other day, where the hell the executioner's blade might've gone, what's going on with Sasuke, and who was who in Konoha. This usually led to a contest to see who could come up with the juiciest gossip.

"So Naruto and Hinata are official now. She told me yesterday," Karin shared.

"It ain't exactly a secret. Naruto's a celebrity," Suigetsu responded, trying to one-up Karin.

"Well, you have _me_ to thank for that. Without my womanly advice, Hinata would've been waiting around for him forever," Karin retorted.

"You give yourself too much credit. Besides, Naruto's friend Kiba said _he_ was the one who asked _her_ to be his girlfriend."

This was true; Hinata had said so herself. Karin remembered how happy Hinata had been as she gleefully described how Naruto had confessed his feelings for her and their first date. Still, she didn't like losing arguments against Suigetsu.

"Then how come he waited such a damn long time to do it?" Karin shot back.

"He was apparently nervous."

"That's bullshit. He totally knew she was all over him; what would he be _nervous_ about?

"I dunno, but based on the intel I've gathered, it may just be that up until _verrrry_ recently he had a thing for Sakura and was deciding between the two. But everyone seems to agree that he picked the right girl in the end."

This was news to Karin. So now Naruto liked Sakura too? What was so great about that pink bitch anyways?Sure, she was pretty, but she was flat-chested and kind of a bitch. _And kind. And talented._

"I saw how Sakura treated him and it wasn't pretty," Karin remarked.

"Kind of like how you treat me?" Suigetsu jeered.

"The difference is YOU deserve it. He's an idiot but he's not an arrogant, obnoxious asshole like you," Karin teased back.

"Ouch. But you know what this means, right? When one couple hooks up, especially a celebrity couple, others will follow. Sakura may see this as her chance to get back together with our tall, dark, and handsome friend."

_Shit! He's right! That would NOT be good. Although they're not talking right now…but that was a week ago and things might've changed…I need to get to the bottom of this, but how?_

"Karin? Watcha thinkin' about? A revenge plot to kill Pinky?" Suigetsu questioned, amused.

"No! Of course not!" Karin stammered nervously. In truth, she didn't plan to kill Sakura. Not at all. What she had planned was _far_ more devious.

Karin gulped nervously as she stood outside Sasuke's apartment complex. Things could turn into an absolute disaster if she fucked up. However, she thought her disguise was convincing. She had spent enough time around Sakura to produce a convincing transformation jutsu and she could effortlessly mimic her chakra. Now she just had to get the acting part down – and in Karin's humble opinion, she was a _damn good_ actress.

When she got to the door still guarded by Anbu, they didn't even question her.

"He's in. You may see him if you'd like, Sakura-san," one of them said to her. "We'll be outside if you need us."

"Thank you," Karin replied as she opened the door and walked in. The apartment was absolutely spotless; Juugo and Sasuke had obviously done a lot of cleaning since she had last been in there. Not surprising, considering how meticulous Sasuke was. Karin's heart thumped in her chest as she entered the kitchen area and saw Sasuke, who was sweaty and looked like he had just been training. He was drinking water and eating a tomato.

"Sakura," he uttered calmly.

"Sasuke-kun, I want to talk to you," Karin said. She tried to repress the blush that was creeping across her cheeks from smelling Sasuke's natural musk. His chakra was no longer hostile; it felt like its usual mix of fire and ice that gave Karin chills. And he just smelled so _manly_. She could just feel his pheromones urging her to take him then and there.

But she needed to be careful. She had a feeling that the pink bitch was not as lustful as she was and even if she _was_, she hid it well.

"Well, what is it?" Sasuke responded, a bit impatiently.

"I…ummm…about what happened…that time…" Karin felt herself sweating. She tried to sound meek and apologetic but all she could think about was Sasuke's blank stare.

"That was…I was not in my right mind at that time," Sasuke said quietly, not looking Karin in the eye. "I'm sorry."

It was a _real _sorry – not a "I'm sorry I accidentally stepped on your toe" kind of sorry. This was _serious. _There was an awkward pause.

"O-Of course you weren't! Don't worry, I forgive you, Sasuke-kun! It's all good now!" Karin said nervously, feigning a smile.

That's when Sasuke grabbed her by the shoulders, shocking Karin.

" 'It's all good now?' What kind of bullshit is that? No, it's not all good now. I was going to kill you!" he shouted angrily.

Karin was rendered speechless. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Anbu peeking in. She looked back up at Sasuke. He was _touching _her. He was so close that Karin could just kiss him then and there if she wanted to. She felt her face get closer to Sasuke's; or was he moving his face closer to hers? She may finally get to taste Sasuke's kiss. Karin's heart was thumping like crazy.

But no. It wasn't Karin that Sasuke was apologizing to. It wasn't Karin that Sasuke was touching. It was Sakura. Karin needed to change her game plan. She originally intended on just evaluating the pink bitch's relationship with Sasuke by flirting with him, but that would only help Sakura's case.

She needed Sasuke to believe that Sakura hated him.

"You're right," she said coldly, swatting his hands off her shoulders, "I would be lying if I said I forgive you. Because I can't. I'll never forgive you for what you did." Karin swallowed and gathered more courage. "I may have loved you once, but you're not the person who I thought you were. You've changed, and it's for the worst. How could I ever love someone as cold and uncaring as you? How could I respect myself if I allowed myself to be with a man who hurt me? If you ever lay those filthy, blood-stained hands of yours on me again, you'll be sorry."

Sasuke was absolutely floored. After what seemed like a minute of silence he finally uttered, "I understand."

"No, you don't. Goodbye, Sasuke-kun," Karin sneered as she walked out the door.

As she exited, the female Anbu patted her on the back and said, "Yeah, you tell him."

It was certainly a victory for Karin, but why, she could not say. Yes, she had put a damper in the pink bitch's relationship with Sasuke. However, she also had gathered the courage and told Sasuke exactly what he needed to hear. But this only caused her to question her feelings for Sasuke, as what she told him seem to come more from her own feelings than Sakura's. Was she finally moving on? The thought made Karin feel uneasy.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: Finally we get some quality girl time! Perhaps after this fic I'll write drabbles about the Konoha girls hanging out and NOT talking about boys.

As always, leave feedback!

* * *

Chapter 11

Karin was feeling rather down after confronting Sasuke, so as soon as she transformed back into herself, she went to go find Hinata to ask her if she wanted to hang out. Maybe they could go get some okonomiyaki (and hopefully Hinata would pay because she was rich). However, when she finally tracked down Hinata, the violet-haired kunoichi was not alone; she was with a small group of girls. One of the girls, much to Karin's chagrin, happened to be Sakura. This could potentially turn really awkward.

Still, Karin needed to have some fun and perhaps she would make new friends.

"Hey, Hinata, what's up?" Karin called.

"Oh, hello Karin! We were just going to relax at the bath house, want to join us?" Hinata replied.

"I don't want to intrude or anything…" Karin said.

Much to Karin's surprise, it was Sakura who answered, "You wouldn't be intruding at all! Please join us!"

"O-okay," Karin said, trying to hide the guilt that she felt.

"How do you know Hinata?" asked a brown-haired girl whose hair was tied up in buns.

"Oh, we just kind of met while training one day," Karin said.

"That's weird. I haven't seen you around before. Are you from Konoha?" asked a blonde-haired girl with a high ponytail.

"Uhhhh…no," Karin answered.

"Wait. I've seen your face before. Weren't you recently detained for working with Sasuke-kun?" asked a blonde-haired girl with messy hair and thick bottle glasses.

"Uhhhhhh…" Karin hesitated.

"Come to think of it, I saw that too! Hinata, this girl is a criminal!" said the brown-haired girl angrily.

"No, she's not…" Hinata responded meekly.

"Listen, I know some of you don't have the best opinion of Sasuke-kun but it is unfair to judge Karin just because she is his teammate. I was...no…_am…_his teammate too," Sakura pointed out, "and besides, she helped revive Tsunade-sama."

"Yeah, Tenten, you need to chill about Sasuke-kun. He did help us out in the war and all. He's on our side now," said the blonde-haired girl.

"We'll see about that. But I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions, Karin. Anyone who saves Tsunade-sama's life is a friend of mine. I hope you can accept my apology. It's Tenten, by the way." Tenten scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

"It's okay, Tenten," said Karin, pleasantly surprised that the girls had brushed off her bad reputation with only minor conflict.

"I'm Ino Yamanaka," said the blonde-haired girl. "It seems like you already know Hinata and billboard brow here…" Ino gestured to Sakura.

"I'm sorry, Karin, this girl is lying; her real name is Miss Piggy," Sakura interrupted.

"She calls me a pig but really she's just jealous because she'll never be as voluptuous as I am," Ino retorted.

The pink bitch got all up in Ino's face.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, SKANK?" she yelled.

"THE COLD, HARD TRUTH, BITCH!" Ino yelled back.

"Ahem," the other blonde haired girl coughed.

Ino and Sakura turned around, embarrassed.

"S-sorry, Shiho! We got a bit carried away," Sakura laughed nervously.

"Y-yeah. I'm, uh, Shiho," said the other blonde-haired girl awkwardly.

"Sakura and I are actually best friends, even if we don't act like it. Sorry about that," Ino explained.

"No problem," Karin responded with a slight laugh.

The girls bantered for the rest of the walk to the bathhouse. They talked about how Hinata's former sensei, Kurenai, was due to have a baby any day now. Ino explained to Karin that the baby's father, Asuma, had been her sensei, but he had died in battle against the Akatsuki (Karin was thankful that no one knew that she had actually been a member of Akatsuki once).

They arrived at the bathhouse and headed to the changing room. Karin realized that this was the first time she had been naked around people she actually _knew_ (Suigetsu didn't count). It was weird. She didn't consider herself a modest person by any means, but she found herself feeling very self-conscious about her bite marks, broad shoulders, and tiny breasts (all three of which she covered up with her long red hair) around other women. Especially Hinata. _Damn_, was that girl built. Her tits were so big that they practically floated on top of the water like pearly white balloons.

"Damn you, Hinata, your tits are glorious," Karin randomly blurted out when they got into the hot bath. Hinata squeaked and hugged her chest.

"Uh, really?"

"Hell yeah. I kind of have a girl crush on you; don't tell Naruto."

This put a small smile on Hinata's face.

"Hinata, you seriously need to take a good look at yourself. Most girls would _kill_ for those boobs and that silky hair and those hips," Ino pouted, "myself included."

"Oh, Ino, stop feeling sorry for yourself. You flaunt your body all the time," Sakura reminded her in annoyance.

Just then, Tenten crept into the hot bath.

"I just had an awkward run-in with Lee out in the hallway," she whispered, her cheeks red. "The guys are all here."

"Jeez! Why do they always have to come at the same time as us? Can't we girls just have some bonding time away from the constant sausage fest?" Ino complained.

_Sausage Fest_. Karin's mind immediately wandered to the gutter. In a minute, hot, naked guys would be in the other room and their packages would be jiggling about. Karin thought of Suigetsu's dick and blushed. _What am I kidding? His dick is pathetic…but it was huge when he was inside me_, she thought before quickly brushing the thought away in disgust.

Sure enough, a loud voice resounded over the other side of the bathhouse.

"GUYS. DON'T PEEK AT THE GIRLS OR I'LL BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF YOU!" Naruto yelled obnoxiously.

"Naruto, the only one who ever tries to peek at the girls is _you_…" a calm voice pointed out.

"IT'S ONLY CUZ' HINATA'S PROBABLY OVER THERE! HE COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT PEOPLE PERVIN' ON THE REST OF THEM!" yelled another loud, obnoxious voice.

"That is completely false, Kiba! I, Naruto Uzumaki, am now a mature man and do not need to preoccupy myself with the habits of juveniles. It is not only for Hinata's honor, but for the honor of all women in the world, that I do this."

"AGREED, NARUTO-KUN! YOU ARE TRULY A PARAGON OF VIRTUE! TEACH ME YOUR MANLY WAYS SO THAT I MAY FEEL THE YOUTHFUL TORRENT OF LOVE WITH SAKURA-SAN!"

_The pink bitch has ANOTHER admirer? _Karin thought in disbelief. She looked at Sakura, who face palmed and sunk under the water, looking like she wanted to die. Karin looked over at Hinata next to her, and saw that her face was burning red.

Finally, Ino yelled over to the other side, "TRY TELLING LOUDER! IT'S NOT LIKE WE CAN HEAR EVERY SINGLE FREAKIN' WORD YOU'RE SAYING!"

"Sorry Ino!" yelled a different voice from the other side. The boy's side immediately fell to a hush.

"And THIS is why next time we have a girl's day, we don't go to the bath house," Ino muttered.

"Aw, but I love taking hot baths," Tenten sighed.

Karin was amused. She had thought that dealing with Suigetsu and Juugo was crazy but these guys were giving them good competition. She was actually glad for once that she was an outsider.

"So are those your teammates over there?" Karin asked the group.

"Yeah, for better or for worse," Tenten answered.

"Let's see…so I know there's Naruto. Then there are your teammates, Hinata, the dog guy and the bug guy…" Karin thought aloud.

"Kiba and Shino," Hinata corrected her.

"Yeah…and then I remember meeting the really hyper one with the weird haircut and the big eyebrows."

"That's Lee all right. He's my teammate," said Tenten.

"Okay, so Lee. And then there was a pale, dark-haired guy who had really weird fashion sense?"

"You're probably referring to Sai," Sakura said.

"Sai…anyone else who I'm missing?" Karin asked.

"Shikamaru," Shiho piped up, but then backed into the water, embarrassed. She was still wearing her glasses in the hot bath. Not even Karin was _that_ blind.

"Yeah, Shikamaru and Choji. They're my teammates," Ino added, "and if you don't count Sasuke-kun, or Neji-kun, that's everyone!"

"Neji-nii-san," Hinata murmured sadly. Tenten swam over to pat Hinata on the shoulder and said, "It's okay, I miss him too."

"Ino! Too soon!" Sakura reprimanded the blonde.

"Sorry! It's true though; he isn't with us anymore. Besides, I know how hard it is, after all, my father also…" Ino's voice trailed off.

Karin was confused. Sakura could see that, so she explained, "Neji-kun was Hinata's cousin and Tenten's teammate. He died in the war. So did Ino's father."

Karin was surprised Hinata had not told her about her cousin dying in the war. But she supposed that was something that people just didn't talk openly about. Karin hadn't told anyone, not even Taka, about what had happened to her family and friends.

"Neji-kun was an excellent ninja and was always looking out for you, Hinata," Sakura said sweetly.

"Yeah. He was smart, talented, _and _hot…why do the good ones die young?" Ino lamented.

"Ino, can't you have a bit of sympathy like a normal person?" Sakura snapped at Ino.

"Nejiwas the closest thing to a normal person…" Tenten sighed with a hint of snark in her voice.

"I only said _nice_ things! Right, Hinata?" Ino asked.

"Ummmm…yeah…I guess so," Hinata said timidly. Karin could tell she was feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Sorry about your cousin," Karin told Hinata. Then to lighten the mood, she changed the subject, "So it sounds like, based on what Ino is saying, that the pickings for hot guys are slim?"

The girls all looked at each other.

"Ehhh…it depends on who you ask," said Tenten. "Like I wouldn't say Naruto is hot but I'm sure Hinata would say differently." Hinata blushed and grinned at this comment.

"The problem is," Ino explained, "that you never get a perfect combo. If a guy is hot, it's highly likely that he's a jerk, like Sasuke-kun…" Ino glanced at Sakura, who sunk into the water and started blowing bubbles. Ino continued, "If a guy is nice, then he's not hot, like Choji. And then all the guys who are in the middle have some sort of obnoxious personality flaw that's a deal breaker. So really, you can't win…"

"Unless you're Hinata and have the patience of an oyster," said Sakura. "Trust me, you _need_ _it_ to deal with that Naruto."

"I'm very lucky to have Naruto-kun, but I feel that the rest of you aren't giving the others enough credit," Hinata said.

"Shikamaru-kun isn't obnoxious. He's really smart and funny and nice," Shiho said shyly. A blush crept across the blonde girl's cheeks.

"That's true, but he's also realllly lazy," said Sakura.

"And taken," Ino added.

The other blonde's mouth opened in shock. Twitching, she readjusted her glasses and stammered, "W-what?"

"Is it Temari-san?" Sakura asked.

"Welllll, it's not official _BUT_…Choji told me that he got kicked out of the tent he was sharing with Shikamaru and had to spend the night with his Dad during the war because, let's just say, Shikamaru and a certain sand kunoichi were fraternizing," Ino said devilishly. The rest of the girls blushed, except for Shiho, who looked dumbfounded.

"I've got to go to the bathroom," she said quietly as she emerged from the hot bath. The room was absolutely silent until Shiho left.

"She must've really liked that Shikamaru guy," Karin observed, "and you just ruined all her hopes and dreams."

"Well, they were going to get ruined sooner or later," Ino said nonchalantly. "Really, I'm doing her a favor. Better to have her find out from me than be rejected. Shikamaru is a smug, sexist, lazyass shit and he needs a scary bitch like Temari to keep his ass in line. He'd be bored with Shiho."

"That may be true, Ino, but I still feel really bad for her," Hinata said. "I know what it's like to have a hopeless crush on someone."

"No, you don't," Karin said sharply, and immediately regretted it. Hinata looked shocked and Sakura looked upset. Karin realized she probably just came off as being very rude to Hinata.

"I'm sorry Hinata, what I meant to say is that…WHAT DO YOU MEAN? Don't be so hard on yourself—you ended up with your man so it wasn't hopeless at all!" Karin laughed, and much to her relief, the tension seemed to clear. Sakura still seemed to be a bit off, though.

The girls proceeded to gossip about the Shikamaru-Temari couple, which bored Karin. She imagined Sasuke being there instead; good ole' quiet Sasuke with his rock hard abs. Karin suppressed a drool. Just then, she heard shouting coming over from the other side of the bathhouse. The boys seemed to be fighting over space in the hot bath. She contemplated a wonderful, awful idea.

_I wonder how their guys compare to Sasuke? Perhaps a few of them are really hot…having a tiny little peek won't hurt_, she thought.

Karin swam over to the fence in between the men's and women's baths and started looking for a hole. She knew from experience from trying to peek at Sasuke that there was usually a weak spot in these dividers. Some pervert usually made a hole to peek into the women's side, anyways.

"Ummmm…Karin…what are you doing?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

Karin whipped around and stammered, "I-I thought I saw a hole in the wall and I was worried that the guys were trying to peek at us!"

"Oh God, I hope not," muttered Tenten.

"Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it, Karin," said Ino. "They know who they're messing with here."

"I don't know. Naruto and Lee-san did some questionable things in the past…those guys can be real perverts sometimes," Sakura said.

"Well, then maybe we should give them a taste of their own medicine?" Karin laughed nervously. She appeared to be joking, but in reality she was _dying _to peek.

"Karin-san! You're a naughty girl…and I love it! How come I never thought of that before?" Ino exclaimed.

"Woah, Ino!" Tenten exclaimed. "You would really perv on them?"

"Sure. There are definitely some guys that I _am_ curious about," Ino answered.

"Like _who_?" Sakura asked her friend, brows raised.

"Like hell I'd tell you!" Ino snapped.

"One of them is definitely Sai, that's for sure," Sakura muttered. "Ino, even if he is hot I'm not quite sure that things without a penis are his type…"

"Oh, how do _you_ know?" Ino scowled. "You got a dick?"

"No! Do _you_, Ino-Pig?!"

"Calm down you two! They'll hear us!" Hinata said nervously.

"Point taken…if we're going to do this, we'll have to be sneaky – and you've given me the perfect idea, Hinata. You have the byakugan. Have you just happened to notice what these guys have hiding underneath their pants? Cuz' if not, then now's the perfect time to find out," Ino asked the blushing Hyuuga.

"NO! W-well, I mean, I have seen some of them in passing but…I don't try to direct my attention there!" Hinata stammered.

"Not even Naruto-kun?" Ino jeered.

Hinata squealed. She turned crimson red and appeared to pass out. Luckily, Tenten was next to her and propped Hinata on the edge of the tub, fanning the shy girl's head.

"I guess I went too far," Ino muttered. Luckily, Hinata came to and Ino apologized to her.

"I-It's okay," Hinata stammered, "It's just…I try not to look at Naruto-kun's…you know… when I'm using the byakugan because I want the first time we see each other…well…to be special."

"Yeah, but how do you know that he hasn't looked at _you_?" asked Ino snidely.

"Gah! Maybe he has! What if…what if he only wants me for my boobs?" Hinata asked nervously.

"Don't you worry, Naruto isn't that kind of a guy," said Sakura, and in a low voice, added, "cuz' he certainly didn't hit on me because of my tits, that's for sure."

"So maybe…he doesn't like large breasts?" Hinata said, growing more anxious and covering up her chest.

"HINATA JUST CALM YOUR HUGE TITS!" Karin yelled in frustration. Then upon realizing what she said, everyone started to laugh, even Hinata.

"That was a good one! I like you," said Tenten, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Y-yeah. I'm sorry for stressing out, everyone," Hinata apologized.

"No worries," Sakura reassured her, "besides, Naruto is _crazy_ about you and you really need to stop doubting that. His face just lights up whenever he's around you." Hinata blushed.

"Well, then I could always use my mind-body switch," Ino mused.

"Oh, just drop it, Ino. That's just too perverted, even for you," Sakura snapped at her.

"Fine, forehead. I was just joking anyways. But don't tell me that if Sasuke-kun were over there that you wouldn't want to sneak a peek," Ino retorted.

"SHUT UPPPPPPPPPP!" Sakura splashed her friend.

"Don't splash me with that hot water, you psycho!" Ino squealed.

"I thought you said you were over him?" Tenten asked suspiciously.

"I am!" Sakura muttered, blushing.

"Then how come you're blushing?" Ino jeered.

"Because the water is hot, idiot," Sakura muttered again. "Besides, aren't you his girlfriend, Karin?"

Karin's stomach lurched as all the girls whipped around and stared at her in disbelief.

"I…uhhh…well, that's," Karin hesitated, "uh…yeah, I guess you could say that." _Shit. What the FUCK did I just say?!_

"I didn't know that, Karin," said Hinata.

"Yeah, we keep it on the down low. You know. Busy with the Shinobi life," Karin laughed nervously.

"Whoa, I guess he was straight after all," Tenten remarked.

"What made you think he _wasn't_?" Ino asked, her eyes narrowing.

"He never showed any interest in girls and then he _volunteered_ to go off with Orochimaru and do who the hell knows what. Just sayin'," said Tenten. Karin cringed.

"Oh hell no!" Karin retorted. "Orochimaru-sama was creepy but Sasuke would never…EW!"

"Yeah, I don't want to think about it, either," said Ino. "Soooooooooo…just out of friendly curiosity, Karin…what is your relationship with him like?"

"What do you mean?" Karin asked nervously.

"Like…does he actually show any signs of affection? Cuz' I tried to flirt with him and he wouldn't even look at me …" Ino pouted.

"I wonder why," Sakura muttered sarcastically.

"Uhhhhhhh…sure. We do…things," Karin said unconvincingly. She felt herself sweating even more than she was previously.

"And is his body as beautiful as his face is?" Ino asked with an eager grin.

"INO!" Sakura reprimanded her. "Don't you think it's awfully rude to be asking Karin such personal questions about her relationship? Why don't we talk about something else-"

"Oh, you're just jealous, billboard brow. Although if I were Karin, I certainly wouldn't want to give away the juicy details so no one tried to steal my man…" Ino replied.

"No matter _how _hot Sasuke is, I will _never_ steal him away from you," Tenten muttered.

"Well, I will say this much: he's absolutely _gorgeous_," Karin admitted. "His chest looks as if it's been sculpted by the Gods…and his muscular arms…and that _ass. _Unf."

Sakura and Ino blushed. Tenten shrugged and Hinata didn't appear to even be listening to the conversation.

"Annnnnnnnd?" Ino coaxed.

"And what?" asked Karin, her cheeks burning.

"Have you…well…is he truly gifted _everywhere_?" Ino was desperate to wheedle the juicy details out of Karin. Unfortunately, Karin did not know. She had peaked at Sasuke countless times when he was bathing but she had never been able to see his full body in all of its glory. The best she had seen was a one second glimpse of his ass. _And oh, what a lovely ass it was. _Karin turned as bright as a tomato.

"Annnnnnnd we're done!" Sakura laughed nervously as she started pushing Ino out of the bath. "Let's go get changed now, shall we?"

"Ouch! You're no fun," Ino groaned as she climbed out of the bath.

"I am soooo sorry. We're not all crazy people, I swear," Tenten muttered apologetically to Karin as she got out of the bath.

"Oh, uh, no problem," Karin replied.

Then it was just Hinata and Karin.

"Karin, I don't want you to get involved in the drama but I just thought you should know that Sakura-chan…well, she used to _really_ love Sasuke-kun. I am still uncertain if she is truly over him," said Hinata.

"I know," Karin replied. "I don't think she is."

"So why would you lie about being his girlfriend?" Hinata asked.

"How did you know I was lying?" Karin replied incredulously.

"Women's intuition," Hinata responded, with a smile.

"Yeah…I just…I got nervous and I didn't know what to say," said Karin.

"Do you like Sasuke-kun?" Hinata asked curiously.

"Ehhhh…it's complicated," Karin sighed.

"Well, you don't have to go into it if you don't want to. I'm going to get out now," Hinata told her, leaving Karin to ruminate over her feelings for Sasuke some more. _The fact that I can't say 'Yes, I like him' automatically…my feelings are not as strong as they used to be, _she thought.

She eventually rejoined the other girls in the changing room. It appeared that Shiho had left immediately after she had gotten upset about Shikamaru. As the girls were saying their goodbyes, Karin pulled Sakura aside.

"Look, Sakura, about Sasuke—" Karin said sheepishly.

"There's no need to feel bad! Like I said, I'm over Sasuke-kun now so you don't need to worry about it," Sakura said with a smile on her face. Karin could tell it was fake.

"But—" Karin started.

"It's no big deal! I'll see you around, Karin! Perhaps you can come help heal people at the hospital?" Sakura asked.

"S-sure," Karin said as Sakura walked off. Yet again, she had chickened out when it came to telling her the truth.

But despite how awkward it was, this day with the girls was the most fun she had had, if not in a very long time, than ever.


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note:

I delve into Suigetsu's backstory a bit in this chapter. Some parts of it are quite graphic, so fair warning if domestic violence triggers you.

As always, please leave feedback!

* * *

Chapter 12

It had been a really eventful day, and Karin was having a hard time sleeping. No matter what position she found herself in, it became uncomfortable. It also didn't help that she was still feeling guilty about impersonating Sakura and marring her relationship with Sasuke when Sakura had always been so kind to her…

"Can't sleep either, huh?" Suigetsu chuckled from the other side of the bed. Why Karin still let him sleep with her, she could not say, but as long as he kept his distance she was complacent.

"Shut up then," Karin barked impatiently. She rolled from her back to her side so she couldn't see Suigetsu at all.

There was a long pause. Then Suigetsu asked, "Have you seen the pictures of Sasuke's aunt and uncle? Aren't they the ugliest people you've ever seen?"

"Yeah," Karin responded. She had perused all the photo albums in the house by now. She hadn't paid much attention to Sasuke's aunt and uncle (she couldn't even believe they were related) but had spent _hours_ pouring over Sasuke's childhood pictures. He had been such a cute kid! And a happy one at that…

"Well, they did it. On this bed," Suigetsu said.

Karin cringed. "WHAT THE FUCK SUIGETSU NOW I'M NEVER GOING TO GET TO SLEEP!" she yelled as she threw her pillow at him. He laughed.

"Aw man, I am so down for a pillow fight!" He whacked Karin with his own pillow. Putting on her glasses, she frantically tried to run over to the other side of the bed to retrieve her pillow as Suigetsu chased after her. Finally, she found her pillow and started whacking him back. Soon they were both laughing hysterically; Karin could nearly feel tears in her eyes. A particularly hard whack knocked her glasses off.

"Damn it! My glasses!" Karin cried as she searched around for them. Unfortunately, Suigetsu found them first and put them on.

"Damn, Karin, you are _blind_!" he exclaimed.

"Give them back!" Karin demanded.

"No problem, they're just going to make me dizzy anyways," Suigetsu said as he placed the glasses gently on Karin's face. As Karin's vision got better, she saw Suigetsu smiling his toothy grin. She couldn't help but feel like there was something really sweet about the gesture, even thought it was so small.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

The two crawled back into bed. After a few minutes of tossing and turning, Karin was still wide awake. Apparently Suigetsu was too, because he then said, "You never talk about yourself, especially before Orochimaru-sama."

"That's because there's nothing _to_ talk about," Karin said quietly.

"You must have had _something_. Friends. Family. A village."

"What if I don't _want_ to talk about it?" Karin snapped, rolling over to face Suigetsu.

"You're not the only one whose folks are dead. My father, my mother, my brother. All dead," he said seriously.

"I didn't know your parents were dead too."

"Yeah…it's an unpleasant story," Suigetsu said, looking down at the bed.

"I'm sorry. That must have been rough," Karin admitted.

"My mother's death was rough, yeah. But my father…I hope he is rotting in hell." Suigetsu clenched his sharp teeth.

Karin was silent. She realized that she had never seen this side to Suigetsu before. She had always seen him as this lazy, sarcastic guy who never took anything seriously.

Suigetsu sighed and continued, "My father was a fucking bastard; I was terrified of him as a kid. He beat all of us. Me, my brother, and my mother. Mom would forget to buy something at the store or something stupid like that, and he would just start _screaming_. She never fought back, so Mangetsu and I would tell him to stop and he would beat the shit out of us. And the worst part was that my mother would always get angry at us and tell us not to interfere and that it was her own fault and she deserved it. Fucking bullshit. I tried to spend as much time away from home as possible; Mangetsu and I usually camped out somewhere or we'd train under Zabuza Momochi. One day when I was eight, Mom came to her senses and said as soon as my father came home from his next mission she was going to kick him out because she was sick of being abused. And sure enough, when he came home, she had his bags packed and everything and told him to get the hell out. But he didn't take that too well; no, not at all. He started _pummeling _her and calling her a bitch and a whore and said she was cheating on him and all this shit. I started screaming, 'Dad! Dad! Stop! You're going to kill her!' but he didn't fucking listen. And by the time he had stopped, she was all bloody and barely recognizable and wasn't breathing. Then father started freaking out when he realized what he had done and he told us we had to flee the country or something like that. Because I was a coward, I just stood there in shock. But Mangetsu…he grabbed my father's sword from his sheath and stabbed him through the chest. The authorities declared it a suicide. It really should've been. But he's dead and that's all that matters. Of course, Mangetsu eventually died too; I had been kidnapped by Orochimaru by then and I wasn't even there. I could've saved him and he'd be alive and we'd have started rebuilding the seven swordsmen of the mist by now."

"I never knew that about you," Karin whispered.

"Well, now you know," Suigetsu replied, with a twinge of bitterness in his voice. "So what about you? What's your happy tale?"

Karin felt rather silly now for not wanting to tell Suigetsu. He had just told her something so deep and personal that she was still in shock.

"I had a normal childhood, really; nothing to complain about. But when I was ten, some foreign ninjas attacked my village and killed probably everyone. I was playing in the woods when it happened and when I felt their chakra, I ran and hid. Then Orochimaru-sama found me. That's really all there is to it," said Karin.

"Did you see them die?" asked Suigetsu.

"No. But I could feel everyone's chakra flicker out, one by one. It was nauseating; praying my parents wouldn't be next. When I finally felt their chakra disappear, I vomited." There was a heavy silence.

"I damn hope that Sasuke or Naruto or whoever can change this fucking world. No one should _ever_ have to go through what you went through or what I went through or what Sasuke went through. I'm sure there's a reason why Juugo is so fucked up, too. We're just a whole gang of fucked up misfits, aren't we?" Suigetsu chuckled darkly.

"Yeah, I guess so," Karin agreed, "but I'm surprised to hear that from you. Don't you enjoy killing and that sadistic kind of shit?"

"Sure. But I'm a killer, not a murderer. I butcher shinobi who get in my way, not innocents. Besides, there's honor in slaying those who are strong. There's no honor in killing the weak."

"And what about your comrades? Are you the kind of person who would stay with your comrades to the bitter end or would you abandon them if they were of no use to you?" Karin asked, looking Suigetsu straight in the eye.

"If I could save them, yeah, but if it were too risky, I would save my own hide first. I think that's natural human instinct—" said Suigetsu.

"You're not a human; you're a leech," Karin snapped bitterly, angered by Suigetsu's cowardice.

"But I know if I were with my brother when he died, I would've stayed by him even if it meant certain death for me. And if it were my children or the woman I loved," Suigetsu looked Karin dead in the eye, "I would fight for them even if all my limbs were chopped off and all I could do was spit in the enemy's face."

Karin didn't know what to think. Had Suigetsu just referred to _her_? No, that would be ridiculous. Maybe Suigetsu was lecherous but he certainly didn't _love_ her. If he loved her, he would've protected her...and wanted to be around her…

But it always _had_ been him protecting her, hadn't it? He had attacked Madara when he had stabbed her. Whenever she had gone off on her own, he was always the one that went to go look for her. Not Sasuke. Not Juugo. It was always Suigetsu in her face, never leaving her alone.

Suigetsu reached for a strand of Karin's hair and rubbed it between his fingers. Karin's stomach did a somersault.

_He loves me. He fucking loves me. This is unreal. What the fuck is this?_

Karin had never felt so confused in her life as Suigetsu played with her hair in the moonlight. For so long Karin had wanted someone who would love her and let her be the fierce lady she was, and she had thought she would find that man in Sasuke. But no; all this time it had been Suigetsu.

But it was all a sham. A lie. If she were to fall for Suigetsu, then she would've agonized over Sasuke for nothing. Her devotion would be rendered foolish. Furthermore, she would live with the shame of downgrading from Sasuke Uchiha to a bloodthirsty, sword-wielding, arrogant asshole. Sasuke and Suigetsu; Suigetsu and Sasuke… were they _really_ all that different?

Both of them had ruined her life.

"Let go of my hair," Karin said quietly. Suigetsu seemed to snap out of a trance and released a handful of her hair.

"Sorry," he mumbled sheepishly.

"I need to be alone right now," Karin said shortly. Before Suigetsu could even say anything, she bolted out the door and ran downstairs. She paced around the living room nervously.

_What am I going to do? He's __**Suigetsu**__! It was one thing for Suigetsu to fuck me, but for him to actually be in love with me? I can't believe it. This is insane. Besides, there's Sasuke. But I don't even know if I love him anymore. So what if I fall for Suigetsu? No, it's just lust; just curiosity._

That's right. Karin did not love Suigetsu. However, she _could_ love him, and that's what scared her the most.


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: Well, you're about halfway through the fic, so thanks for sticking around! Shit's about to go down, as well as a bit of naughtiness for those of you who are getting sexually frustrated…enjoy!

As always, please leave feedback!

* * *

Chapter 13

Karin must have fallen asleep because she found herself sprawled out on the couch as Suigetsu made his way downstairs and sang "Good Mornin', Darlin'" as nonchalantly as usual. She bolted up with a start, her messy hair all over the place.

"Damn, Karin, you look like the freakin' Kyuubi," Suigetsu laughed.

"Oh…" Karin said groggily. Suigetsu seemed surprised that she wasn't fuming.

"So, uh, did you sleep well down here?" he asked.

"Oh…yeah," Karin replied, her cheeks burning. She could've sworn that she crawled back into bed with Suigetsu and made out with him. They didn't have sex, but he ground his crotch into hers and Karin's body burned with lust when she remembered how _real _his hard-on had felt. But it _had_ to have been a dream.

"Wow, you are so out of it this morning. I'll make breakfast today, then," said Suigetsu. He only made cereal, but still, Karin appreciated the gesture. They had a rather subdued meal in comparison to their usual lively bickering. However, there was a moment when Suigetsu sneezed and Karin's heart tightened.

Later that morning, Karin noticed that the door to the bathroom was open a crack while Suigetsu was showering. _I'm just going to sneak a quick peek. There's nothing wrong with being a little curious every once in a while…it doesn't mean I love him or anything, _Karin told herself. Luckily, Suigetsu was so wrapped up in singing some silly little ditty about a fish that he didn't notice Karin tap the door a little to open it further. _Why does he have to be so damn adorable?_ Karin admitted to herself glanced in and saw Suigetsu in all his naked glory; his strong backside turned towards her as he scrunched up his silky white hair with shampoo. Karin's entire face went red and she felt a wave of lust consume her as she stared at his meaty ass.

_Oh God, he has such a sexy body. Especially that ass, _she thought. Feeling unbearably horny, Karin stuck her hand down her shorts and through her panties and started to caress her aching pussy. _This is so wrong but feels so right._ She turned to sneak another glance at Suigetsu's ass and felt juices begin to seep out. _Damn, you Kappa, what would you think if you knew how wet you make me? _She moaned as she fantasized about joining him in the shower. _I know you want me. Take me up against the wall, you bad, bad boy. _Suigetsu turned around so Karin could now see his muscular chest and dick. Karin only felt herself grow wetter as she imagined Suigetsu's dick becoming juicy, big, and thick as he fucked her hard against the shower wall. _Oh, right there, that's the spot; you're fucking me so deep and fast! Annnnnh~_ Karin furiously diddled away at her clit and fingered her wet entrance until she could bear it no longer. _Ohhhhh, I'm gonna come!_ She imagined climaxing at the same time as Suigetsu as he thrust deeply into her one last time, and became completely overpowered by her orgasm. She slouched down by the door to the bathroom, panting in the afterglow as her remaining juices slowly dripped onto her panties.

Karin twitched as she heard the shower turn off. She shuffled around to pull up her panties and shorts. She yelled into the door, "Hurry up, Kappa! I need to use the bathroom!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be out. Try not to look at me though, will you? I know it's tempting," he teased.

Karin sputtered. "W-why would I ever want to look at YOU?! I would never—never in a million years!"

"Jeez, I was just joking. I'm out," Suigetsu said as he opened the door to the bathroom. Karin blushed to see the towel wrapped around his waist that was covering so little. As she awkwardly tried to make her way into the bathroom, Suigetsu moved the same way. They paused and muttered apologies awkwardly as they tried to move, but this time bumped into each other as they moved. This caused Suigetsu to trip, landing on top of Karin.

Karin stared at Suigetsu's shocked and confused face for what seemed to be like five minutes. Her heart was beating rapidly. Nothing but the thin fabric of her shorts and his towel separated them from doing the dirty. What if he smelled the juices on her hands? She had to admit to herself that she would not be disappointed if he took her right then and there.

All of a sudden, the doorbell rang, snapping both Karin and Suigetsu out of their trance. They stared at the door, and then at each other. Why would anyone be ringing the door to an abandoned house in the Uchiha district? _It was his chakra…Sasuke…_

"Stay right there. I'll check first," Suigetsu whispered seriously as he pulled himself off of a red-faced Karin. Karin's heart beat rapidly in her chest in anticipation. It had been nearly two weeks since she had last saw Sasuke (as herself) and she was anxious about seeing him again after what had ensued the last time.

And lo and behold, when Suigetsu opened the door, Sasuke was standing there. Karin's heart stopped. She also noticed that Juugo was with him.

"Sasuke! Whatcha' doin' here? I thought you told us to scram!" Suigetsu complained loudly.

"Why are you only in a towel?" Sasuke asked, his brow raised.

"I was just taking a shower when you scared the shit of me, that's all. I can take the towel off if you want," Suigetsu joked.

"Please don't. Anyways, I have something that you want," Sasuke replied. Juugo handed him the executioner's blade.

"This—NO WAY! Where did you find it?!" Suigetsu exclaimed ecstatically.

"Kakashi Hatake had it in his possession somehow. But he didn't have any particular desire to wield it, so he said you could have it back if you wanted, being the student of Zabuza," Sasuke explained.

Suigetsu yanked the executioner's blade from Sasuke's hands and twirled it around the living room as if it were a doll.

"Oh, how I missed you my love!" he declared. Karin couldn't help but smile at Suigetsu acting like a little kid over his sword. She blushed when she saw his towel hitch up a little bit from the air. He then turned back to Sasuke, "Thanks, Sasuke. I guess you're not such a bad guy after all!"

Sasuke weakly smiled at Suigetsu. Then, he turned to Karin.

"Karin."

She jumped when he actually said her name.

"S-Sasuke!" she stammered.

"I would like to have a word with you. Alone, if you don't mind," Sasuke said.

Suigetsu crooked an eyebrow. "Uhhhh…okay. I guess I'll go get dressed, then."

"I'll be waiting out here," said Juugo.

Suigetsu went upstairs as Sasuke closed the door. He motioned for Karin to come over to the living area, where they both sat down on the couch.

"How are you doing? Do you like it here?" he asked her. Karin was surprised that Sasuke actually seemed interested.

"I'm okay. Yeah, I like it here. The people are nice. Plus, this sure beats camping out or having to pay for a hotel room," Karin said.

"Good," Sasuke replied. He paused and then continued, "I wanted to apologize for the way I mistreated you in the past. I see the error of my ways now. And perhaps I was being a bit hasty when I told you I couldn't give you what you want."

"Eh?" _What does he mean by that? It isn't like him to be this…considerate towards me_, Karin thought.

"I really thought hard about it. I realized that even though I had not considered you in that way before, perhaps I _could_ reciprocate your feelings," Sasuke said unsteadily, not looking Karin in the eye.

"Uh…what?" Karin asked, confused. _Is he seriously saying what I think he's saying right now? This __**can't**__ be real…_

"Karin, you know that I must revive my clan one day. I need a wife who is an intelligent and talented kunoichi. Not only do you possess those qualities, but you come from a great bloodline. Our children would unite the Uchiha and Uzumaki clans; carrying traits of both of the Sage of the Six Paths' sons."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down there," Karin said. "Are you meaning to tell me that you seriously want to marry me and have babies and the whole she-bang?"

Sasuke hesitated. "I see the potential there, yes."

"Do you…do you really mean that?" Karin asked nervously.

"Yes," Sasuke replied, looking at the coffee table. "I think we should start seeing each other."

Karin didn't know what to think. Her heart was beating so fast that it felt as if it would burst, but her mind was telling her that this just made no sense. As much as she wanted to believe that Sasuke could turn around and fall for her; this was just too sudden. He had never shown any indication prior to this that he could actually reciprocate her feelings.

"Sasuke, this is really sudden," Karin admitted. "I…I don't know what to say."

"It's not like I'm saying we should get married this instant. We would date first, of course, until we came of age. Isn't this what you want?" Sasuke looked Karin in the eye now. She thought she saw his brow twitch a little. She could tell by his discomfort that every word he was saying was forced.

"Prove to me that you really mean it," Karin demanded.

"Do you think I'm lying?" Sasuke replied coolly.

"I just think it's a bit strange. You ignored me most of the time when I was clearly coming on to you and _now_ all of a sudden you're interested?" Karin shot back.

"I've been thinking about it ever since I last saw you. I _do_ need you, Karin. All you have to do is accept my proposal."

"Then kiss me."

"What?" Sasuke questioned, taken aback.

"Just kiss me. That's how I'll know you're not lying," Karin said. _That's how I'll know you're not using me once again._

Sasuke sighed, brows furrowed. He closed his eyes and with a sudden fury, smashed his lips into Karin's. At first Karin was so shocked that she sat dumbly while Sasuke kissed her. But as she felt Sasuke's chakra grow hotter and more irresistible, she couldn't help but kiss him back. They moaned into each other's mouths as the kiss intensified.

And then just as suddenly as it started, Sasuke broke the kiss off. His chakra cooled down, as did his expression.

"Suigetsu. I told you I wanted to talk to Karin alone," he said coldly.

Karin's stomach lurched. She whipped around to find Suigetsu frozen on the stairs. He looked like a sad puppy dog that had just been kicked.

"Suigetsu!" Karin cried out. She wanted to explain herself but the words wouldn't come out.

Suigetsu's shaken expression turned into a nasty smirk. "Well, look what we have here. The two lovebirds reunited at last. I guess you are going to live happily ever after with your beloved Sasuke after all, eh, Karin? Despite all my best efforts to break you two up I guess the power of true love was just to _die for_, wasn't it?"

"Suigetsu, don't provoke her," Sasuke said calmly.

"You're right. There's no point now. I've got the executioner's blade so I can just stroll right on out of here and never have to talk to you freaks again. Bye bitches!" Suigetsu sneered as he went straight for the door.

"Wait, get the hell back here—!" Karin cried, bolting off the couch to run to Suigetsu. "Suigetsu, please, you're just as much a part of Hawk as the rest of us."

"Oh, fuck Hawk. It means jack shit now. No, I'm not going to be manipulated by this bastard anymore, unlike you. I'm out," Suigetsu snapped as he shook Karin off of him. He burst open the door and hit Juugo.

"Oh, sorry there, big guy. Can you activate rampage mode and take these two out for me? Okay, thanks, bye," Suigetsu said mockingly. Then he jumped on the roof and ran off.

Karin just sat there on the floor, completely shocked. What the _hell_ had just happened? She had fantasized about using Suigetsu to make Sasuke really jealous and upset, but the complete opposite had happened—and in Karin's fantasies, Sasuke always came back. She did not think Suigetsu was going to come back after what had just ensued…

"Did Suigetsu catch you two making out or something?" Juugo asked.

"Yes," said Sasuke.

"Ah. Well, it was no secret that he was jealous of Karin's affection towards you," Juugo remarked.

There was an awkward silence. Then Juugo said, "Something smells funny."

"Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if there is a mold infestation. This house hasn't been looked after in years," said Sasuke.

It was then that Karin snapped back to reality.

"I…uhhh…I need to go to the bathroom," she said shakily. Her heart pounded in her chest and her eyes blurred as she bolted towards the bathroom. _Shit shit shit shit shit shit. _She slammed the door and felt her glasses fog up. Whether it was from the steam residue from Suigetsu's shower or her own hot, salty tears, Karin could not say. She ran her hands under the sink, determined to wash the shame away.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Karin was cranky. Not only had she cried nearly all of last night, but she had stained her panties with her period that morning. As she attempted to wash the stain out, she felt nothing but bitterness. Bitterness towards Suigetsu for leaving her, bitterness towards Sasuke for existing, and bitterness towards herself for being a fool – and also bitterness because part of her had secretly hoped that she was actually pregnant. How fucked up was that?

But no, Karin now had to deal with the blood and the cramps, and every time her ovaries contracted she would have to be reminded of the fact that she had had drunken, wild sex with Suigetsu and that he had spilled his seed inside of her but she had prevented a baby from happening so she could experience the joy of period cramps a month later.

Karin knew that it was ridiculous to prefer being a single, pregnant teenager over the minor inconvenience of having her period, but she couldn't help but be damn pissed off. She would probably realize how ridiculous she was being once she stopped PMSing – that was her excuse.

Karin hung out her panties to dry and walked downstairs to make breakfast.

"Good morning, Karin," said Juugo nonchalantly.

Karin would've been startled, but instead she was annoyed. She mumbled and walked straight past him to the kitchen to pour herself a bowl of cereal. _That's right. I got a new roommate, too. Well, at least he's quiet so I can pretend he's not there_, she thought.A medical ninja named Shizune had created a pill that would stop Juugo's episodes and inhibit his cursed seal, so he no longer needed Sasuke's constant supervision. Initially, he was going to switch with Karin and she would live with Sasuke, but she _really_ did not feel like being around Sasuke after what had happened yesterday—except she was going on a date with him later today. Whoop-dee-friggin-doo. Karin wondered if her period would be a good enough excuse to cancel on him.

Karin was reminded of the time when she had begged her mother for a chocolate chili pepper candy when she was five. Her mother had warned her that she would not like it, but Karin whined and begged for _days_. Finally, her mother gave in and bought her a pack – on one condition: she had to eat every single candy in the pack. A dry throat, tears, and several burning shits later, Karin learned her lesson.

Karin feared that history was going to repeat itself.

However, when it came time, Karin decided that she should at least give Sasuke a chance to redeem himself. She had chased after him for so long, after all.

She had to admit that Sasuke looked quite handsome when he came to pick her up. He was wearing a high-collared vest over a black long-sleeved shirt and cargo pants. Karin felt a little embarrassed that she was wearing the same purple shirt and shorts that she always wore since she had no other clothes other than prison rags and a Konoha uniform. Clearly Sasuke was judging her, but he didn't say anything.

"Hi, Karin," he said.

"Hi, Sasuke," she said back. There was an awkward pause.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"Where are we going?" she replied.

"I thought we could hang out at my place and I could make you dinner," he answered.

"Oh…I thought we were going to go out. Like downtown or somewhere," said Karin. Making dinner was a nice gesture, but she had hoped that they would walk around the colorful hustle and bustle that was downtown.

"I…don't think that's a good idea," said Sasuke hesitantly.

"Why not?" Karin questioned.

"I just…don't think it's safe," he replied.

"How? Is Orochimaru-sama having drinks with Madara's ghost down there or something?" Karin asked sarcastically.

"It's not like _that_. Fine. We'll go eat somewhere downtown, if that's what you want," Sasuke sighed.

The two walked in silence on the dirt road that led from the Uchiha district to the more urban part of Konoha. Finally, Karin could bear the silence no longer and broke it.

"So, what have you been up to lately?" Karin asked.

"Training, mostly. Trying to get my community service hours done as quickly as possible," he replied.

"Do they have you doing stuff like gardening for elderly people and walking dogs for the aristocrats?" Karin teased.

"Yeah," Sasuke said angrily. He glared ahead. _He feels that the work is beneath him_. _Maybe it is, but what does he honestly expect? _Karin thought.

Karin felt two chakra presences. She looked up on the rooftops of the houses they walked past and saw Anbu there. _That's right. He's being watched 24/7, _Karin thought. As they walked on, more people seemed to be out and about. Shops and restaurants started lining the corners.

"So, what's good around here?" Karin asked.

"Nothing much here. Mostly fast food stands. The place I have in mind is a lot nicer; it's a grille I used to go to with my family on the weekends sometimes. I hope it's still there," he said.

As they walked closer to town, they passed the bar that Karin had arm-wrestled with Suigetsu in. She remembered how cute he had been, singing drunkenly on the table. Her stomach lurched and she tried not to think about it. She looked over at Sasuke, who seemed to be getting tenser the deeper they made their way into Konoha.

Finally, they stopped in front of a building that had been torn down. A sign read: _The Blue Fin Grille is closed for renovations. Sorry for the inconvenience._ Sasuke _tsked_ and muttered, "Should've known. Looks like it was destroyed from Pain's attack. I'll find someplace else."

_Whoosh!_ Karin nearly jumped when the rock went flying past Sasuke.

"What the hell—?" Karin yelled as she whipped around. She turned around to see a group of young kids –12- or 13-year-old genin probably— sniggering.

"Aw, I almost got duckbutt head," one of them jeered.

"Don't worry, I'll get him for sure," declared another one as he threw another rock at Sasuke. Sasuke, of course, caught it.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Sasuke asked in frustration.

"Oh, Uchiha thinks he's so cool. Go on, fight us then," one of the kids taunted.

_Are these kids fucking retarded? Do they even __**know**__ who they're messing with? _Karin thought.

Sasuke turned to Karin. "Come on. Let's go, Karin."

They started to walk away, but the kids started throwing more rocks and taunting, "CHICKEN! BOCK BOCK BOCK!" Karin couldn't take it anymore.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?! LEAVE US ALONE OR I'LL BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU PUNKS!" she roared.

"Who is this, Sasu-gay, your tranny prostitute?" One of them mocked.

"FUCK YOU!" Karin screeched as she ran towards them. Sasuke grabbed her arm roughly.

"Don't-even-think about it," he hissed, "they're just trying to get a rise out of me so I'll hurt them and be kicked out of Konoha. Plus, the Anbu are watching so you're at risk, too."

_Damn. He's right_. Karin bit her lip in annoyance as those fucking douchebags laughed and called her a man. _And the Anbu are watching…wait, that's it!_

"Hey assholes, don't you know the Anbu are watching? You could be arrested for harassment!" Karin yelled at them.

The juveniles just looked at each other and then started roaring with laughter.

"Like they care! Hell, I heard 'em laughing when those people threw vegetables at him the other day!" one of them said. The other punks slapped their knees and laughed even harder.

"Come on, Karin, _let's go_," Sasuke growled sharply as he dug his nails into Karin's arm. Karin followed Sasuke down an alleyway and then jumped on to the rooftops. They stopped when it was clear that those brats weren't following them anymore.

"That was crazy," Karin commented. "Who the hell do they think they are?"

Sasuke didn't respond to her question. Instead, he started walking on the roof of the apartment building. "We should be safe if we walk up here," he said.

"They said people threw vegetables at you the other day. Does this kind of bullshit happen often?" Karin asked angrily.

"Almost every time I go out in public," Sasuke said seethingly. "Look down there." Sasuke pointed down in the alleyway. "SASUKE SUCKS" was written in big, orange letters. A smaller yellow sentence added, "DICK." A rather unflattering picture of Sasuke sucking a big, hairy dick was drawn next to it.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Karin exclaimed.

Sasuke didn't respond.

"I can, uh, I can see why you didn't want to go out," Karin said awkwardly. The two walked in silence until they reached a restaurant called _Haru_.

"This place is nice. Let's see how long the wait is," Sasuke said as he jumped down. Karin followed and marveled at the ambient atmosphere. She had never been to a restaurant this decadent in her life.

"A table for two," Sasuke said to the host. She looked at him strangely and then said, "Hold on." Karin's brows furrowed in confusion as she waited with Sasuke, who was tapping his foot in impatience. Finally, the host came back with the manager, a middle-aged man with a beer belly.

"I'm sorry, but we don't serve felons," the manager said gruffly.

"What about people who saved your damn village?" Karin spat back. Sasuke glared at her. "Karin, don't start anything. We don't want to eat here anyways."

"EAT _THIS_, UCHIHA!"

_Splat_! The dog shit hit Sasuke smack dab in the face. Karin just stared, horrified. She didn't see who had thrown it or where the hell it had even came from, but now a small crowd who was laughing gathered outside the restaurant. People were exiting the restaurant to witness the horror.

"SHIT-SUKE! SHIT-SUKE! SHIT-SUKE!" They started chanting.

Sasuke clenched his teeth as he wiped the shit off his face. Karin could tell that he was _dying_ to punch someone.

"Sasuke, are you okay?" Karin asked in genuine concern. A few hours ago she had been pissed off at Sasuke, but now she just felt pity for him. She rushed over to try to help him, but she was yanked away by a large, strong man.

"Hey girlie, watcha' doin' with this queer? I could show you a real good time," he whispered into her ear. Karin felt his putrid breath and wanted to throw up.

"Let me GO!" she yelled, trying to break free of the strong man's grasp.

"You ain't gonna' wanna' be with this pussy after we're through with him," another weaselly guy said to her while holding her chin. It took all of Karin's self-control not to hit him.

"Let her go," Sasuke said coolly to the creeps.

"No! We're not done with you yet. Hey, Fujiwara, beat that girl until Uchiha snaps," the weaselly guy told the big guy.

With a huge _wham_, Karin felt all the air leave her body as the big guy kneed her in the gut. She tried to break free, but she couldn't move. The impact was just too powerful. She lost consciousness for a second; when she opened her eyes she saw blinding blue lightning coming from Sasuke's hand.

"NO!" she mouthed, but no scream would come out. Sasuke was going to try to kill her again so she would no longer be a burden. She needed to get the hell out of there; she didn't care if she got exiled. It didn't even matter anymore. At least then, she could search for Suigetsu…

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" yelled a voice. Karin turned her head with all her energy. An orange blur parted the crowd. _Of course it wasn't going to be Suigetsu. Why would it be?_

"SHIT! It's Naruto! RUN!" the weaselly guy told his cronies. The big guy dropped Karin and tried to run, but he became paralyzed. Karin saw Hinata, who had appeared suddenly, hit the chakra points of her tormentors, who were now lying helplessly on the ground.

"You're all scum! Not only you thugs, but all you people that just stood here and watched! You disgust me!" Naruto yelled. The crowd was dead silent. Many people snuck away. Hinata rushed over to Karin and asked her if she was okay. Karin was still shocked.

"And what are you doing just standing up there? Arrest these assholes or I'll drag them to jail myself!" Naruto roared at the Anbu watching on the roof, who sheepishly apologized to Naruto and dragged the thugs away.

"I could've handled it myself," Sasuke snapped at Naruto.

"You know that if you lay even a finger on a citizen you'll be exiled; no excuses! Until I convince the idiots in this village that you're not a threat, you need my help!" Naruto argued back.

Sasuke _tsked _and released his chidori. _No, he wasn't going to kill me. He was trying to help me_, Karin thought. Despite this, she still felt nauseated. Hinata felt her pulse.

"Her skin is cold and her pulse is weak," Hinata said. "I think she may be going into shock." Hinata laid Karin down and threw her jacket over her. Naruto removed his jacket and threw it on top of her too. Then everything went black.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Karin woke up to a blinding, bright light.

"Unnnnh…where am I?" she moaned groggily.

"The hospital. You had the wind knocked out of you and went into shock," said Sasuke.

"Sasuke! You're still here?!" Karin exclaimed in surprise.

Sasuke didn't reply.

Karin slouched up. She saw through the window that it was pitch black outside.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"It's 2:14 A.M.," he replied.

"WHAT?!" Karin yelled.

"You have to stay the night, but they should release you in the morning," Sasuke explained.

"Damn it! And I haven't eaten anything either!" Karin muttered.

"The food here isn't that bad. They'll give you a nice breakfast," said Sasuke.

There was an awkward pause.

"Thank you for staying with me," Karin said quietly.

"It was the least I could do since that date sucked," said Sasuke.

"Yeah. It was pretty friggin' terrible. No offense," Karin said.

"None taken. Now you can probably see why I didn't want to go out," said Sasuke, with a slight uneasy smile on his face. He paused. "Do you want me to stay with you?"

Karin hesitated. Sasuke was finally acting like the person who she always thought he was, but part of her still didn't trust him. Mostly, she just wanted to be alone for a while.

"It's okay. Why don't you go home and get some rest?" she suggested.

"Well, goodnight then, Karin," Sasuke said awkwardly. And with that, he was gone.

Karin lazily crawled out of her bed to shut the lights off. Then, she drifted back into sleep. After what only seemed to be five minutes later, she heard the door creak open. She woke with a start. The door was closed. She felt her heart start to race. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow moving in the corner. She tried to scream but no noise would come out.

"Even if you do scream, I've sound-proofed the room," came an all-too-familiar, sinister voice.

Karin shivered. Either she was having a horrible nightmare or he really was back. But what did he want with _her_?

"What do you want?" she demanded, putting on a brave face.

Orochimaru slinked closer. As Karin's eyes adjusted to the dark, she could see his glowing yellow eyes.

"You know there are many things I want, Karin. But what about you? I am rather interested in your relationship with Sasuke-kun," said Orochimaru.

"What about it?" Karin questioned.

"Well, it's no secret that you have been obsessed with the boy for years now. Now it seems like you are finally going to get what you want," he replied.

"Cut to the chase…why does this concern _you_?" Karin demanded. Orochimaru was _never _interested in other people unless he could benefit in some way.

"I am fascinated by bloodlines, you see. So many talented clans…so many pedigrees to explore…so many genes to tamper with –and you know how I like to groom those from bloodlines that I see fit—"

"Well, if you're looking to recruit me or Sasuke again, don't push your luck. We're done with you," Karin interrupted.

"Yes, that ship has set sail, I know. I admit that I probably could not take Sasuke-kun on at this point; he's far too powerful. However, he has many reasons to be grateful towards me…"

"For what?! Trying to molest him?" Karin scoffed.

"There, there. What a mouth! I can't believe one of my favorites is talking back to me in such a way!" Orochimaru sighed, feigning a wounded tone.

"I no longer work for you. I am grateful for my life, Orochimaru-_sama_, but just because you saved it doesn't mean you own it."

Orochimaru chuckled. "You _are_ too much of an Uzumaki to be dyed to my color. But I digress. Despite our differences, I think we both can agree that Sasuke-kun has a beautiful body. I think we can also both agree that there's something special about the Uchihas in general. With only one surviving member left in the world, it would be a shame if that bloodline weren't to continue…" Orochimaru said silkily, sitting himself down on the side of Karin's bed.

"So you're interested in my relationship with Sasuke because you want me to start popping out Uchiha babies for your perverted experiments, is that it?" Karin snapped.

"You two were a project I had been working on, but alas, that project was cut short after my first untimely death. However, it seems that Sasuke-kun wasn't as receptive towards you as we both would have liked. How could he not see the possibilities with Uzumaki-Uchiha hybrids?" He mused. "But now…the opportunity is too delectable to pass up, Karin. Now is the time for you to grab hold of what you've always wanted. Reward Sasuke-kun with children and he _will_ love you."

"Even if I were to have children with Sasuke, that wouldn't be anytime soon and like hell I'd let 'em near you!" Karin yelled.

"I must say I am surprised that you aren't jumping on this suggestion, Karin. I guess I'm going to have to give you an incentive," Orochimaru marveled, stroking his chin.

"What incentive could you possibly give me? You wouldn't kill Sasuke or I and there's no one else I care about. All my family and friends are dead," Karin whispered. That wasn't entirely true; she _had_ made friends here. Still, Orochimaru didn't need to know that.

"Really?" Orochimaru asked incredulously. "Not even…Suigetsu?"

Karin felt her mouth drop open a little as a chill ran up her spine. She recomposed herself, however, and brushed it off. "Pft! You can have him for all I care! Now that Hawk is disbanded he means nothing to me now!"

"That's a really interesting thing to say about someone you've been sleeping in the same bed with." Orochimaru smirked. He _knew._

"You—" Karin gasped.

"Please, Karin. I'm a master of reconnaissance. Surely I was going to check up on my little guinea pigs. Yes…you were falling for him, weren't you? But how could you betray Sasuke-kun like that!? Really, Karin, I'm so very disappointed in you," he sneered.

"Well, Suigetsu left the village and I'm done with him! He could be anywhere by now!" Karin retorted, trying to hide her fear.

"Once again, I'm very disappointed in you, Karin. Surely a sensor such as yourself would be able to tell if someone has left the village or not. He's very much still in Konoha."

"Where is he?" Karin asked anxiously.

"Patience, patience. I'll let you know where he is and I'll let him live if you promise me one simple thing."

"And what's that?"

"You _will_ seduce Sasuke-kun and start trying to conceive a child with him as soon as possible. Then, you will gather semen samples and give them to me. Damage any forms of birth control he has. If he resists, find some way to drug him. Surely you've thought this through before, have you not?" Orochimaru jeered.

"I'm not the person who I once was," Karin spat back. "I'm not like _you_."

"Will you do it or not?" Orochimaru demanded, his tone shifting from playful to menacing. Karin felt her hands clam up and her throat go dry.

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama," Karin choked, defeated.

Orochimaru cackled and started sinking through the floor.

"You can find Suigetsu at the corner of block 43. He's living on the second floor of a two-story home. Oh, and before I leave…if you tell _anyone_ about our little chat then I _will_ kill him."

And with that, Orochimaru was gone. As soon as she felt his cold, slimy chakra disappear, Karin gasped for air. Even though she was nearly an adult now, Orochimaru _still _terrified her.

What the hell was she going to do? She was only seventeen; she had no intention of getting pregnant now! But what if Orochimaru wasn't bluffing; what if he really _would_ kill Suigetsu? Surely there had to be some way to bring that bastard down for good. Why, oh _why_, did Sasuke revive him?

Karin felt a dull pain in her pelvis and remembered that she had her period. This pissed her off even more. _I should've just let myself get pregnant that time. Then I'd just hand over a red-haired, pointy-toothed baby with sharingan contacts to Orochimaru and see if he finds that amusing. _But then Karin remembered that Orochimaru probably would've killed the baby anyways so she supposed having her period wasn't so bad after all.

It also meant she had a good excuse to delay having to seduce Sasuke for a week. Karin had to think of a plan – and fast.

* * *

Author's Note: Well, shit! Some of you may be thinking Orochimaru was a bit OOC there…would he really threaten Karin to become pregnant? To this I say, if it's to make babies with Sasuke's beautiful genes, then yes. As for the sense of urgency…plot. Plus, Orochimaru wants to breed his mini-Sasuke harem/army pronto.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Karin barely got any sleep for the rest of the night. She tossed and turned, trying to think of some plan to kill Orochimaru without him knowing. But he was just too damn sneaky; Karin couldn't risk plotting against him.

Karin's stomach was churning when her breakfast arrived. To her surprise, it was Sakura who brought her breakfast.

"Good morning, Karin. How are you feeling?" she asked.

"A lot better, thanks," Karin lied as she eyed her porridge ravenously.

"Good. Listen…I heard from Naruto about yesterday. What they did to you and Sasuke-kun was just awful," Sakura said with extreme concern in her voice.

"Yeah. Apparently Sasuke gets harassed like that every day. Frankly, I'm surprised he hasn't snapped yet," Karin said nonchalantly as she ate a huge spoonful of porridge.

Sakura looked gloomily down at the floor. Karin felt bad so she added, "The fact that he _hasn't_ snapped is a good thing though, right? He must really want to stay in the village."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Sakura agreed. She still seemed to ruminating over something.

"What's wrong?" Karin asked.

"Oh, nothing," Sakura replied. She smiled, but Karin could tell it was a fake one.

"You're lying. Tell me what's wrong," Karin demanded.

Sakura sighed. "Naruto has been doing all that he can to help Sasuke-kun because he sincerely believes that things can go back to the way they were. I'd like to believe that, but I am just clouded by so much doubt. I know he helped us win the war and now he even wants to become Hokage, but…I just can't trust him. I know he doesn't care about me and all I can think of is that…time."

"I know. I think about it a lot, too. But I think Naruto is right; Sasuke is genuinely getting better. He understands that he did some things that were awful. He even…" Karin hesitated. "…He's genuinely remorseful over what he did to you."

Sakura was shocked, even though Karin didn't find it the least bit shocking at all. Perhaps she should've let Sasuke tell her himself, but she figured he still felt so awful about it that he believed he didn't deserve to be around her. _Plus, he kind of already apologized to her…except it was really me. Oops, _Karin thought.

Yet, he could forgive himself for what he did to Karin and ask her out after stabbing her three months ago. It was funny how things worked out.

"I'm sorry, that just…surprises me," said Sakura. "Sasuke-kun _never_ admits when he's wrong."

"Yup. You've got that right," Karin agreed. Sakura giggled.

"It's funny. All my life I've been so possessive over Sasuke-kun and even fought Ino, my best friend, over him. We almost ended our friendship over a _boy_! I should hate you too, but I don't," she admitted.

"So you still love him, huh?" Karin asked.

"I'm a fool, I know," Sakura sighed.

"Well, then I'm a fool as well," Karin agreed. "I was really jealous of you too."

"Jealous of ME? Why? He couldn't care less about _me_!_ You're _his girlfriend!" Sakura exclaimed.

"…we'll see how long that lasts," Karin muttered inaudibly.

"What was that?" Sakura asked.

"Uh, nothing. Anyways—" Karin put her spoon down in the empty bowl and took a swig of orange juice. "—I've got some business I've got to take care of. Am I free to go now?"

"Uh, let's see." Sakura quickly checked Karin's pulse and asked her typical questions about her health. "Well, everything looks normal so if you're feeling better, then you can check yourself out."

"AWESOME. Thanks you pink bitch!" Karin called to Sakura. She froze when she realized what she had let slip.

"No problem," Sakura replied cheerfully. "Four-eyed slut."

Karin had to laugh in spite of herself. _Is THAT what she calls me? HILARIOUS._

Karin frantically hurried to the 43rd block. Sure enough, as she approached a yellow, two-story house, she could sense Suigetsu's salty chakra. She knocked loudly on the door. A middle-aged woman with blonde hair answered the door.

"Hello, how may I help you?" she asked.

"Hey, uh, is a guy named Suigetsu here? I'm his friend and I wanted to talk to him," Karin said awkwardly.

"Ohhhhhhhh…that charming young man? Follow me," said the woman as she led Karin upstairs. She heard the sounds of what appeared to be a guitar and…Suigetsu singing? And what was that _smell_? Karin scrunched up her nose. It smelled like a wad of cum-soaked tissue.

When Karin reached the top step, she understood why. There was Suigetsu, serenading that dorky chick Shiho from that time at the bathhouse. Their chakra was absolutely foul together.

"It's you," Karin muttered, feeling a bitter taste in her throat.

"It's you!" Shiho exclaimed in surprise.

"IT'S YOU!" Suigetsu screamed. He backed up so far on the couch he was sitting on that he fell over the other side and made a mad dash for the window.

"YOU GET THE HELL BACK HERE, YOU DUMMY! DON'T RUN AWAY FROM ME!" Karin screeched as she leaped over the couch and yanked Suigetsu back inside.

"My goodness, what is going on here?" cried the woman, who must've been Shiho's mother.

"I don't know. Would you care to explain?" Karin demanded to a sheepish-looking Suigetsu.

"Yeah, I'm really confused, Sui-kun," said Shiho as she adjusted her glasses.

_Sui-kun? _What the fuck was that?

"I…uh…well…after I left, I kind of went a little crazy and uh, next thing I knew, it was 7 a.m. the next day and I was passed out on the sidewalk. Luckily Shiho here found me and nursed me back to health and is even letting me stay with her," he explained.

"You mean she helped cure your hangover?" Karin asked sarcastically.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Suigetsu retorted.

"How do you two know each other? Are you his girlfriend or something?" Shiho asked.

Karin blushed. Suigetsu huffed and replied, "Nope. We were just teammates, that's all. Nope. No sexual tension there whatsoever."

"Oh, good," said Shiho.

"Annnnnyways, you were kind of interrupting my song, Karin. What is it that you had to come barging in here like a bull to say?" Suigetsu questioned suspiciously.

"We need to talk. Alone," Karin hissed through gritted teeth.

"Fine, but I'll give you a minute at the most and then I'm going to continue jamming," sighed Suigetsu. "Wait a sec, Shiho, we'll be done in like, less than a minute."

They went to a corner. Karin made sure she didn't sense Orochimaru at all and then whispered, "Look, Suigetsu. We need to get out of here. It's not safe."

"How come? Is Orochimaru-sama back?"

Karin bit her lip. "I don't know. I just have a bad feeling."

"Why don't you just have _Sasuke-kun_ protect you then?" Suigetsu sneered.

"It's…complicated. I just think it would be best if we left the village," Karin said firmly.

"Karin…no offense, but do you really think I'm going to fall for this crap? I know you are just trying to drag me into more Hawk shit. Sasuke probably sent you here, didn't he? Heh. Figures. Well, too bad… I actually kind of like it here now so I'm going to delay the whole sword-collecting thing – and well, there's Shiho."

Karin clenched her teeth. "You just met her."

"So? She actually notices me, unlike _someone_ I know," Suigetsu snapped.

"She likes someone else," Karin said coolly.

"Yeah right. You're just _jealous_." Suigetsu's whole face seemed to light up at the realization. "You're jealous!" He repeated triumphantly.

"Suigetsu, just stop being an idiot. I came here out of my own free will to warn you. Either you can choose to listen to me, or suffer the consequences," Karin said in frustration.

"Sure. Whatever. Bye bye, Karin!" And with that, Suigetsu plopped back down on the couch to serenade Shiho as Karin just stood there dumbly.

* * *

A note about Shiho:I struggled with her characterization since Kishi didn't give me a lot to work with. I am sorry to any fans who feel that I have butchered her character here or in subsequent chapters.


	17. Chapter 17

Author's Note: Warning for sexual content under dubious consent/threatening conditions in this chapter.

Also Hina x Karin x Saku 5ever.

* * *

Chapter 17

Karin should've been happy. For the first time in her life, she had girlfriends who she could go out shopping with, sing karaoke with, and share her secrets with. For the first time in her life, she had family. Okay, well, maybe it was just her distant cousin and a descendent of Mito Uzumaki herself, but that still counted. Plus, Naruto could be her damn brother; they were that alike.

For the first time in Karin's life, she also had a boyfriend; an absolutely gorgeous boyfriend who cooked, cleaned, and was really good at making out. But that was the problem – that's _all _Karin did with Sasuke. Whenever she frequented his house, he would make her something to eat, wash the dishes, and then make out with her. They barely talked to each other, and even when Karin tried to talk to him he never truly looked engaged. He was there for her physically, but emotionally he was on an entirely different planet. The past Karin would not have cared as long as she could caress Sasuke's beautiful body, but the present Karin was less than impressed. To keep herself entertained, she would close her eyes and pretend he was Suigetsu.

Well, at least he had moved past the psychopathic murderer stage. Karin could handle a sociopath.

Also in the back of Karin's mind was the looming threat of Orochimaru. Although it had been weeks since she had encountered him and nothing had happened, she was still concerned. She just could not bring herself to propose the idea of sex to Sasuke –it just didn't feel right. The _irony_.

She continued to live with Juugo. He was quiet, and therefore didn't bother Karin. She missed Suigetsu, of course, but seeing him around just made it worse. Whenever she ran into him he was _always_ with Shiho and they were not shy about their affections. They kissed and called each other pet names…it disgusted Karin to see Suigetsu so out of character. What was so great about that Shiho chick anyways? Karin knew she wasn't the most beautiful girl in the world but she was _definitely _better than that goggle-eyed, annoying dork. Still, at least Suigetsu was still alive…

Naruto's friends had decided since he never really got to celebrate his birthday (there being a climactic battle and all), that they were going to throw him a surprise one at Yakiniku barbecue. Sakura asked Karin to invite Sasuke out of courtesy, but had also added, "There was a lot of debate over whether Sasuke-kun should be invited or not. Most people don't expect him to show up even if he is invited and him actually coming may cause a ruckus, so I just wanted to give you a heads up."

"Yeah, he's probably not going to want to go, but I'll let him know," Karin agreed.

Unsurprisingly, Sasuke ripped up the invitation and threw it in the trash.

"I don't do parties," he told Karin.

Karin decided that she was still going to go, however, so she invited herself over the Hyuuga estate to help Hinata make the cake (which was really just a good excuse to eat chocolate syrup and frosting). It turned out that Hinata was a _pro_ at baking and was even designing the cake to look like a bowl of ramen.

"So does Naruto have any idea?" Karin asked her as she stirred a bowl of brown frosting.

"Not as far as I know. He's always been pretty oblivious. I'm sure he'll be really surprised; he hasn't complained once about not having a birthday party this year. I think it's because he's just not used to having them, really," Hinata said. She pulled the large, round chocolate-and-vanilla-mixed cake out of the oven and set it on a cooling rack. It smelled _heavenly._

"That's crazy! A guy as popular as him?!"

"You have to remember that Naruto-kun wasn't always this popular, and when he was young he didn't have parents to throw a party for him. He didn't even have friends until he was twelve. His first real birthday party was last year, and even then it was just us rookie ninjas," Hinata explained.

"Wow, that's really sad. Even _I've_ had more birthday parties than he has," Karin said quietly.

"When is your birthday? I'll throw you a party," Hinata offered.

"June 20th, so that's not for awhile," Karin said. "Anyways, if you don't mind me asking, why didn't Naruto have any friends? Weren't you like, his only friend, or something?"

"Not really," said Hinata sadly. "When I was little, the villagers hated Naruto-kun because of the nine-tailed fox inside him that had destroyed the village. I didn't know why people hated him so much and I wanted to talk to him, I really did, but adults told me and all the other children to stay away from him. So I did, but I couldn't help but feel terrible when he got bullied and excluded from things. I didn't gather the courage to do anything about it until I was a genin, though. I was such a coward…"

"We can all be cowards sometimes," said Karin. "But you're a better person now. You stuck by Naruto's side and you befriended me even though I'm labeled as a criminal."

"Mmm." Hinata nodded. "Maybe that's true, but I still feel bad about those things in the past, as well as what's happening right now. The way people are treating Sasuke-kun is almost exactly like how people treated Naruto-kun back then. I think that's why it makes him so angry; Naruto-kun. I don't think _anyone_ should be treated like that, but the difference between Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun is that Naruto-kun never did anything to hurt anyone, whereas Sasuke-kun _did_. I know he is a very important person to Naruto-kun, but I don't know what he sees in him. I _never_ understood why all the girls fawned over him; he's just…boring," Hinata admitted. She then blushed and squeaked, "Gah! You're his girlfriend!"

"It's okay," Karin chuckled. "Sasuke actually _is_ kind of boring, but he also doesn't let people in that easily. I think he let Naruto in, so that's why he sees the good in him – and there _is_ good in him; he saved me from a bear in the forest of death once, you know. I was a total stranger and a potential competitor, but he saved me and smiled. He was so handsome and cool then so I fell in love with him. I guess I was being shallow though because he turned out to be an asshole. Well, Sasuke isn't entirely an asshole anymore but, uh, I'm still kind of over him, to be honest," she admitted.

"What made you fall out of love with him?" Hinata asked as she took a wooden scraper and started spreading the frosting on top of the cake.

"Funny enough, it wasn't all the asshole stuff he did a few months ago. Although that's certainly when I _started_ falling out of love with him. It was more the small things, like how he never asks me questions about myself or how I turn into someone I'm not when I'm around him. There's just no chemistry," Karin admitted.

"I can see how that wouldn't be a satisfying relationship. Are you going to break up with him?" Hinata questioned seriously as she continued to frost the cake.

"Maybe. Eventually. I just…feel bad for him, you know? He has almost no one right now and I want him to get better," said Karin.

"Mmmm, I see," said Hinata, grabbing a thin tube full of the brown frosting that Karin had been mixing and squeezing it into little spirals.

"Hey, do you need any help?" Karin asked.

"Yeah, can you scrape the orange frosting on the side to make the bowl?" Hinata requested.

"Sure, but only if I get to lick it afterwards," Karin teased. She grabbed a rubber scraper and started spreading the orange frosting on the side of the cake. "So, uh, what do you think of my teammate Suigetsu and Shiho as a couple?" she asked curiously.

"I don't know either of them well, so I really can't say. They're a little touchy-feely though, aren't they? I don't like PDA; the most I'll do with Naruto-kun in public is hold hands. But to make out with someone—"

"Wait, she MADE OUT with Suigetsu in PUBLIC?!" Karin shouted, accidentally flicking a glob of frosting on Hinata's cheek. Karin apologized sheepishly. Hinata just giggled and licked the frosting off her cheek with her tongue.

"Yeah. It was really awkward. And I only think she did it because Shikamaru-kun was there. She may be using Suigetsu-kun to get Shikamaru-kun's attention," Hinata suggested.

"Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised," Karin agreed. _Suigetsu, you stupid ass bastard. Can't you see that you're actually being played for a fool this time?_

"I feel bad for them both. Shiho and Suigetsu-kun. Shiho needs to be herself and be honest about her feelings, even if it means she might get hurt. I would _never_ pretend to love someone else to make Naruto-kun jealous," said Hinata firmly.

"Y-yeah," Karin said hesitantly, knowing that she had certainly played with the idea. Yet, the line between whether she had done it to make Sasuke jealous or Suigetsu jealous was becoming very unclear.

Hinata had now made the top of the cake look convincingly like ramen noodles. All that was left was to write "Happy (Belated) Birthday, Naruto!" in bright red letters.

Karin stared thoughtfully at the cake. The fact that she actually had free time to do something like this meant so much to her, even if Hinata could never understand what being a prisoner was like.

"Hey, Hinata…thanks for being my friend," Karin said quietly.

"Y-you're welcome, Karin. Why so serious all of a sudden?" Hinata asked in concern.

"It's just…the concept of friendship and just being able to have hobbies like baking is so foreign to me. I'm still adjusting to it, but I like the life I have now. I didn't realize that I could be doing so much more than just being someone's servant," Karin pondered.

"Well, if there's anything I've learned, it's that you have the power to change your fate," Hinata said. "There was a point when my father was going to disown me, I had no friends, and I was an incredibly weak ninja. Naruto-kun inspired me to change and now here I am! You _can _change things, Karin." She smiled.

"Yes, but can you change _your_ fate?" Karin jeered as she flung an orange glob at Hinata. Hinata laughed and threw a brown glob at Karin. Soon enough, they were engaged in an all-out food fight, and Karin hadn't felt this exhilarated in years

It was pitch black and frigid by the time Karin started to make her way back home. There was no moon, nor a star in the sky to guide Karin back home. She shivered and briskly walked in the direction of the Uchiha district.

Something didn't feel right. Karin increased her pace as she walked through the Uchiha district with its blinking lights and eerie, abandoned dwellings.

As she neared the house, she began to feel _his_ chakra. A chill ran up her spine. She couldn't possibly go home now. She would go see Sasuke; yes, this would placate him. Karin leapt onto a telephone pole and began to glide in the direction of Sasuke's apartment. Unfortunately, the chakra didn't seem to fade. Karin frantically ran as quickly as she could to Sasuke's apartment; she didn't even bother to ask the Anbu for permission. She kicked off her boots and bolted in to see Sasuke brushing his teeth. He spat in the sink.

"Karin? What are you doing here so late?" he questioned.

"Do I need a reason? I just wanted to be with you, that's all," Karin cooed, wrapping her arms around Sasuke from his backside.

"I was just about to go to bed," Sasuke said.

"Good. I'll join you," Karin whispered. She looked out of the corner of her eye to see if Orochimaru was behind them. She kissed Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke turned around. "There are Anbu watching."

"Let them look," Karin said breathlessly as she ravenously attacked Sasuke's mouth. At first he just stood there, but then Karin ran her fingers through his hair and he began to reciprocate. While making out, they managed to fumble their way to Sasuke's bed. Karin tore at Sasuke's tee-shirt and flung it off so he was in nothing but his boxers. She climbed on top of him and slowly started grinding up against his crotch.

"Karin…what are you…" Sasuke hissed through gritted teeth.

"Oh yeah…You're so hot, Sasuke," Karin squealed. Yes, this was exactly what Orochimaru wanted to hear. In reality, Karin could not feel further away from being horny and Sasuke wasn't even _slightly _hard.

"Here I am, being so greedy and staring at your beautiful chest when you can't even see mine. I'll make this easier for you," Karin said as she pulled her jacket off and started undoing her bra.

"Karin…don't you think we're moving a little too fast?" Sasuke asked, his brows furrowed. Karin pulled off her bra, exposing her bare chest to him. Sasuke's expression did not falter.

"I can't help it! You just make me so hot…quickly, Sasuke, touch them!" Karin begged as she grabbed Sasuke's hands and cupped them over her breasts. She continued to rock against him, breathlessly chanting false words of pleasure while becoming more frustrated that he wasn't responding.

"It feels sooooo good, Sasuke!" Karin moaned. She grinded into his pelvis and was surprised to finally feel a slight hardness. "You bad, bad boy!" She squealed. "Let me help you!"

"Karin—wait," Sasuke snapped as Karin played with the elastic band to his boxers.

As Karin tugged Sasuke's boxers down and gripped his slightly erect penis, she could only feel fear and anxiety rather than the lust she had always imagined she would feel at finally touching Sasuke's gorgeous member. She gripped it tightly, pumping it up and down. Sasuke tilted back his head and moaned. Karin whispered nervously, "Your dick is making me so horny. Does it feel good? Please say it feels good. Oh God. Oh yes…o-o-h…"

Karin burst into tears.

"I-I can't do it," Karin sobbed as she released his penis and started bawling into Sasuke's neck. It felt like five minutes passed as Karin continued to sob while Sasuke just lay there.

"I told you we were moving too fast," he said emotionlessly.

"I-I know," Karin choked. "I'm so sorry."

Sasuke was silent again.

"Can I still stay the night?" she asked timidly.

"I guess so," he said. He rolled around so he wasn't facing her. Karin silently wept and finally fell asleep when she realized she could no longer sense Orochimaru.


	18. Chapter 18

Author's Note: Warning for lots of foul language and violence in this chapter in particular. Also, it is _totally_ okay to break the fourth wall when it comes to Sasuke's fanmade pet names. And sorry-more potentially OOC Shiho.

* * *

Chapter 18

Karin wished she had had a camera when Naruto walked into the restaurant, because the shocked expression on his face in reaction to nearly fifty people springing out from underneath the tables and yelling "_Surprise!_" was priceless. Then his expression went from shock to tears brimming in his eyes. Karin thought it was adorable that the most famous person in the five nations couldn't believe that his friends would throw him a surprise party. And not only were his Konoha friends there, but ninjas from all over –

even the freaking _Kazekage_ and his siblings. Killer Bee, much to Karin's anxiety, was there as well so she hoped he wouldn't recognize her. She sat near Sakura, Tsunade-sama, a medical ninja named Shizune. Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru.

The Hokage's reputation as a party animal preceded her. She was absolutely drunk off her _ass _and had no filter when it came to "advising" Sakura, Ino, and Karin on "life lessons" (more like what _not_ to do when it came to money, drinking, or men). She started pouring each of the girls a cup of sake, to which Shizune barked, "Tsunade-sama! They're all underage!" to which Tsunade-sama slurred, "All the more reassssss-on to enjoy life now bifor' 'tir an old laz-she like meeeeeeee." She sloppily poured the sake in the small wooden cups, spilling some of it on the table. Sakura and Ino laughed nervously.

Tsunade-sama could be Karin's crazy distant grandmother that no one talked about – and she was okay with that.

Just then, Karin heard some raised voices arguing near the entrance.

"_Come on, babe…"_

"_I told you, we're going! Stop whining!" _

Karin was surprised when she saw Shiho round the corner with a sulking Suigetsu. She was wearing a tight black dress and unnaturally teal contacts. Instead of sitting at the end of the table, she painstakingly squeezed herself and Suigetsu between Sakura and Ino so that they were sitting across from Choji and Shikamaru. Karin smiled at Suigetsu, which caused him to huff and look away. _Well, fine, be like that_, Karin thought.

"Wow, you look beautiful, Shiho," said Sakura.

"Yeah, where did you get that dress? I'd _love_ one like that," said Ino.

"Sui-kun bought it for me," Shiho said coquettishly as she pecked him on the cheek (her eyes glued to Shikamaru). "Where did you get it, Sui-kun?"

"Uh, that's a secret," Suigetsu muttered, darting his eyes away. _That bastard stole it_, Karin thought.

Awkward conversation continued for about another minute (Suigetsu seemed to be so busy avoiding eye contact with Karin that he failed to notice his girlfriend gazing at Shikamaru) until the cake was brought out. Naruto gasped with delight.

"It's like I died and went to heaven! Did you really make this for me, Hinata?"

"Mmhm. Karin helped," Hinata replied.

_Glomp_! Naruto threw his arms around Hinata and squeezed her tight. Karin could see from her end of the table that her friend was faintly blushing.

"Gah! Thanks a bunch, Hinata! You're the best!" he exclaimed. He laughed nervously when he realized he was probably cutting off Hinata's circulation and yelled over to Karin, "You too, Karin!"

"Hey, don't thank me. She did the baking; I just ate most of the frosting," Karin replied honestly, earning a laugh from Naruto and many of the party guests.

Presents soon followed. Naruto mostly received packs of ramen, ninja tools, and games, but there were some memorable gifts. The Kazekage had a beautiful sand sculpture worth a fortune shipped to Naruto's apartment (Naruto was shocked and kept on trying to refuse the gift politely). Killer Bee got up and rapped about Naruto (the rap was so bad it was hilarious). Sakura got Naruto a mint plant and went on a whole diatribe about how awful his apartment smelled, which was highly entertaining. Naruto was far more charmed by Hinata's gift, which was a tiny, hand-knit pot decoration that resembled a toad, adorning a cute little succulent. Kakashi gave him some clothes and tools that had belonged to Naruto's father, the fourth Hokage. Naruto teared up and hugged his sensei, which even Karin had to admit made her feel a bit gooey inside. The _most_ memorable gift, however, had been a book from Sai. No one got a chance to read the cover, because Naruto took one look at it, grabbed Sai by the collar, and started screaming about how he was a filthy pervert. Sai replied, "Well, I thought it would be helpful for you because there's a section on good positions for guys who—"

"Can't feel their balls? Cuz' that's what you'll have when I'm through with you!" Naruto roared as he picked up the book and aimed it for Sai's crotch.

"Thank you very much, Sai-kun," Hinata said pleasantly as she yanked the book from Naruto's hands and slid it under the table. Naruto blushed and muttered incoherently as he sat back down next to his girlfriend. Karin hoped she and Hinata could pour through it later.

"What do you think was in that book?" Shiho asked Shikamaru coyly.

"Eh, it's troublesome," Shikamaru muttered.

"I'll tell you _after_ the party," Suigetsu said to Shiho suggestively, but she ignored him. Karin felt a twinge of satisfied delight when Suigetsu jutted out his tooth and pouted.

Just then, a pretty blonde girl with long legs walked over and tapped Shikamaru on the shoulder.

"Hey, you. What's a minor like you doing drinking?" The girl smirked, and Shikamaru chuckled in response. _Uh oh, this must be the girlfriend. Shit's about to go down_, Karin thought as she glanced at a peeved Shiho from the corner of her eye.

"You should report the deviant responsible for corrupting me, Temari," Shikamaru replied.

"Maybe I will. But first I've got to confiscate this," Temari laughed playfully as she grabbed Shikamaru's sake cup and walked off with it.

"Damn, that troublesome—" Shikamaru cursed under his breath as he got up to chase after her.

Karin saw Ino give Choji a knowing look from across the table. She then muttered to Sakura, "Bet you five they're going to go make out now." Sakura laughed nervously.

Shiho seemed to hear that, and cleared her throat. "Excuse me, I'm going to go to the bathroom."

As soon as she left, Suigetsu sighed and finally looked at Karin.

"Guess I've got to talk to _you_ now."

"Ugh, I know," Karin replied. "I'm surprised that you're being such a party pooper."

"I don't want Shiho to, uh, see me when I'm like…you know…"

"But you're actually tolerable when you're drunk," Karin teased. "She's in the bathroom. What's one shot going to do?"

"Oh, fine," Suigetsu sighed as he took a swig of sake. One shot turned to two, then three, and before they knew it, Karin and Suigetsu were both tipsy.

"Mannnnnn, if only the Sauce were here wizus with his maje-ssssstic hawks and shit," Suigetsu slurred. "How is the fucking asshole?"

"Wait, you call him 'the Sauce?' The fuck?!" Karin snorted.

"Anzzzer my question, though. How is that fucking shit?" Suigetsu groaned.

"He's probably eating tomatoes and watching soap operas because he doesn't know what to do with his shitty life," Karin replied, breaking out in a fit of laughter. Suigetsu roared and shouted, "You're like, the worst girlfriend everrrrrrrrr!"

"Speaking of girlfriends, where is yours? She's been gone, for like, a million years," Karin pointed out.

"Oh yeaaaaaaah. Probably ate something spicy and is shitting her brains out," Suigetsu muttered. Karin snorted again.

Just then, Shiho stormed angrily back to her seat and grabbed her purse.

"Come on, Sui-kun, let's get out of here," she barked at him.

"Whoa, Shiho, what's wrong?" Suigetsu exclaimed loudly.

"Let's get _out of here_," she growled through gritted teeth, digging her nails into Suigetsu's arm.

"Ouch! Why the fuck have you been acting like such a bitch tonight?" Suigetsu shouted back as he swatted her arm away. Karin looked around and saw that several people were staring.

"What do you two think you're doing?" Sakura demanded angrily in a loud whisper. "This is supposed to be Naruto's party. If you're going to argue, take it outside."

Shiho huffed and stormed off, with a confused, wobbly Suigetsu trailing her. As soon as they left, everyone had to sigh a breath of relief.

"What has gotten into that girl?" Sakura wondered. "She used to be so nice."

"Jealousy can make bitches of us all," Ino said. "I would not be surprised at all if she saw Shikamaru and Temari-san having full-on sex in the bathroom."

"They wouldn't do that at Naruto's party!" Sakura stammered, blushing.

"They're probably in heat because they haven't seen each other in over a month," Ino replied smugly.

All of a sudden, Karin felt completely detached. Everything and everyone seemed so foreign. She looked over to one end of the table, where Naruto was roaring with laughter with Kiba, Rock Lee, Sai, and Killer Bee. Hinata was talking to Shino and Tenten about something. Down her own end of the table, Granny Tsunade had fallen asleep, Sakura and Ino were gossiping enthusiastically, and Choji was still munching loudly. Then there was Kakashi and a ton of older jounin who she didn't know.

She was overwhelmed by the complete and utter sensation of loneliness. Karin was fine with being alone, but she never knew how to deal with being lonely.

So she dealt with it the only way she could – by isolating herself.

Karin shivered as she walked outside. It was now November, and the nights had gotten increasingly cold. Karin felt the buzz of the alcohol affect her stride as she clumsily started walking in the direction of "home."

"YOU'RE MAKING NO SENSE!"

"JUST SHUT UP AND FORGET EVERYTHING I SAID!"

Karin heard the shouts coming from an alleyway. The voices unmistakably belonged to Suigetsu and Shiho. Karin couldn't help but crouch near the wall and eavesdrop. There was silence for nearly a minute, save Shiho's sobs and sniffles.

"Look, babe, I'm sorry I yelled but you're not being direct with me. Maybe this is a bad time to say it, but I haven't been completely honest with you, either," Karin heard Suigetsu say. Her heart skipped a beat.

"You don't have to say a word. I know you like that bitch, Karin," Shiho spat. There was an awkward pause. Karin's heart was thumping like crazy.

"That's okay. I never _really _liked you. I was just using you to make another guy jealous. Except he still didn't notice me. He was making out with that whore from the Sand!" Shiho sobbed pathetically. Karin felt bad, but she also wanted to punch her square in the face.

"Wait, the Nara guy? What the fuck? _That's_ what this was all about? Why would you go to such extreme lengths and use me—we just had sex for fuck's sake!"

Upon hearing that, Karin felt like she wanted to throw up. Why did her heart feel like it was being stabbed? She, after all, was the one who had fucked up; she had no claim on him.

"Because Sh-Shikamaru-kun doesn't want a nice girl to marry! He wants slutty, bitchy girls to fool around with! Be-besides, weren't you doing the same thing to make that ugly bitch Karin jealous?"

"Hey, stop calling them bitches, okay? True, Karin is the biggest bitch there is but you don't even really _know_ her. Or the Sand girl. She was pretty damn attractive, I must say, no wonder why that Nara guy was shoving his tongue down her throat—"

"Just shut up. Just _shut up_. You think you're so funny but I literally feel my IQ dropping whenever you open your mouth."

"Fuck you; I'm funny. Look, I was trying to get over Karin and move on instead of pathetically clinging to some doomed relationship, but now I can see that _this_ relationship is even more doomed. And while we're at it, I'll have you know she was 100 times a better fuck than you! If I want someone to just lie there then I'd fuck a corpse! Or one of those creepy looking sex dolls."

_Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. _Karin felt her entire face burning up. Her racing thoughts were abruptly halted, however, when she heard the slap.

"No girl will _ever _want you, _Sui-kun_. You're an arrogant, insensitive imbecile with no practical aspirations. There are plenty of more fish in the sea."

Karin nervously hid behind a restaurant sign as she heard Shiho's loud heels clinking against the pavement. She glanced as Shiho, sobbing, ripped out her contacts and put her bottle glasses back on.

_Shit. If Suigetsu sees me then he'll know I heard everything and then it will be super awkward._ As soon as Shiho was out of sight, she heard Suigetsu come out of the alleyway and sigh loudly.

Fuck. She has my sword," he said out loud. Karin huddled behind the sign, still paralyzed. What was she afraid of? Suigetsu may still want her, despite everything. Something just didn't feel right.

Karin realized why she was paralyzed a second too late as she stared into a pair of eerie, yellow eyes. Orochimaru softly raised his slender finger to his lips and whispered, "_Shhh." _Karin tried to scream, but nothing would come out.

"You failed to do what I asked," he said.

"I tried. I'll continue to try. Just please don't hurt him," she begged.

"Unfortunately, I think Suigetsu-kun is distracting you from your goals. You leave me no choice but to solve this problem," Orochimaru said sardonically. He flung Karin towards Suigetsu. Her chin banged up against the ground, chipping her tooth.

"Karin! What—?" Suigetsu began, as he ran towards her.

Karin tried to tell Suigetsu to run, but no words would come out. Orochimaru must have paralyzed her again somehow.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Karin heard Suigetsu shout. Orochimaru stepped out from behind the corner and bound Suigetsu with his neck.

"Such an easy target without your little toys," Orochimaru sneered.

"What the fuck do you want with us, Orochimaru-sama?" Suigetsu grunted. Karin couldn't move her head, but she could see Suigetsu's legs struggling while he was held in a deadlock. Her heart felt like it was going to explode. If only she could do something; no, she couldn't let Suigetsu die.

"Fortunately for Karin, I still have plans for her. Big plans. I would see to it that she becomes the mother of the next great sage. Unfortunately, Suigetsu-kun, you have been preventing that from happening. I did not want to get rid of my precious little pet but naughty Karin here has left me no choice. My work on you is done and it is time to say goodbye. At least you will be able to join your brother in hell."

"FUCK—YOU!" Suigetsu snarled. He inflated his muscles and Karin could make out him trying to break free of Orochimaru's bind. She heard Orochimaru scream. Then there were snakes everywhere. Karin felt a cold liquid move close to her vicinity.

"Karin…let's make a run for it," she heard Suigetsu whisper; his body condensing from the water. He picked her up.

Karin tried to tell him to leave her and run; that he was a fool for wasting his time going to get her rather than running away. But no words could come out. Suddenly she saw Orochimaru's neck come out from the snakes and grab Suigetsu by the neck.

Karin heard more signs of a struggle. Then there was a piercing snap, followed by silence.

Orochimaru laughed that awful snarl of his.

"Kukukukuku. I warned you, Karin, of what would happen if you didn't give me what I wanted. This will certainly be an ugly sight to see..."

Orochimaru dropped Suigetsu's body to the ground. His head was snapped backwards and his body was melting into a puddle.

Karin didn't know how she broke free, but all of a sudden the chains were flying everywhere. She screamed, "FUCK-YOU-FUCK-YOU-YOU-FUCKING-BASTARD-GO-TO-FUCKING-HELL!" The tears would not stop flowing; she couldn't even see as her chains whipped in every direction. Then everything went black.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

When Karin came to, she was once again peering into a bright light. At first her initial reaction was that she had died, but then a blurry pink head came into view.

"Karin! Karin! Are you with me?" Karin heard Sakura's voice.

"Uhhhhhhh," she groaned. "Sakura?"

"Yeah. Are you okay, Karin? What are you feeling right now?"

"Uhhhh…like shit. What just happened?" Karin groaned as she reached around for her glasses. Sakura found them and placed them in Karin's hands. Karin slid her glasses back on and saw Sakura's eyebrows furrowed in concern over her glossy green eyes.

"You probably don't remember from the shock," Sakura said quietly.

That's when everything came back to her.

"Suigetsu!" Karin screamed. She burst out of bed and started pulling at her hair. "Orochimaru-sama-he-he—" Karin felt Sakura grip her tightly.

"Shhh…shhhh…don't worry. You're both safe now. Suigetsu-kun is still alive," Sakura whispered soothingly.

"W-what? But how? His neck was clearly—"

"Naruto arrived almost immediately after it happened; when you attacked Orochimaru. He was able to heal Suigetsu-kun's spinal cord using his sage powers, and then I resuscitated him," Sakura explained.

"And Orochimaru?" Karin asked nervously.

"You did quite a number on him before you fainted. Then he saw Naruto and retreated. There's been no sign of him for the past 24 hours; Anbu are out searching now," Sakura replied.

"Have I really been out for a day? What about Suigetsu? Where is he?" Karin asked frantically.

"Yes, and you're going to need to rest for a few more days. As for Suigetsu-kun, I healed his neck bones and spine right after the attack. He's going to have limited mobility for a while, especially in his legs, but with some physical therapy he should recuperate," Sakura said seriously.

"Thank goodness," Karin sighed a huge breath of relief, "and thank you again, Sakura. How many times have you saved me now? Two? Three?"

"No problem! It's my duty as a medical ninja!" Sakura replied. Karin looked over and saw a vase of assorted flowers next to her bed.

"Are those for me?" she asked.

"Yeah, they're from Ino, Hinata, and Tenten. They came to visit earlier today, but you were still asleep," Sakura explained.

"I'll definitely have to thank them the next time I see them. You are all too good to me," Karin said sadly.

Just then, loud voices blared near the door.

"—HER FRIENDS HAVE ALREADY GONE IN TO SEE HER. YOU CALL YOURSELF HER BOYFRIEND?!" Naruto yelled outside the door.

"Then how come I just found out about it this morning?" Sasuke replied coolly.

"WELL MAYBE IF YOU HADN'T HAD BEEN A PARTY POOPER…"

Karin looked at Sakura, who rolled her eyes.

"Naruto, could you try being a little louder? We can't hear you," Sakura called out to the hallway. The door burst open.

"CUZ! YOU'RE OKAY!" Naruto ran over to Karin enthusiastically. Behind him trailed a very sheepish looking Sasuke, who was holding a rose. His eyes darted towards Sakura for a split second before facing Karin.

"Uh, I'm glad you're okay, Karin," he said awkwardly as he handed Karin the rose.

"Th-thanks." Karin accepted the rose hesitantly. There was a moment of silence.

"And now is the part where you thank me for driving Orochimaru off and how your life would never be the same without her," Naruto added. Sasuke _tsked_.

"I can't believe you let him get away. I should've known he was going to become a problem. Karin, do you know what his objective was? Why did he attack Suigetsu out of the blue like that?" Sasuke questioned.

"I…" Karin hesitated.

"Sasuke-kun, you need to be more sensitive. What Karin witnessed was very traumatic so you need to let her have some time to process it," Sakura reprimanded him, which took Sasuke aback.

"It's okay, Sakura. Orochimaru-sama was actually after me. He…he wanted Sasuke and I to do something for him, and I refused, so he made an attempt on Suigetsu's life," Karin explained.

"What did he want us to do for him?" Sasuke asked.

"He didn't say. I just didn't want to work for him again," Karin lied.

"What did he _really_ want?" Sasuke asked firmly, his eyes narrowing.

"He…" Karin hesitated. She had to tell the truth, but she didn't know how. She looked at Sakura, who was extremely concerned. She gulped and looked Sasuke straight in the eye, "He…he tried to force me to become pregnant with your child for his experiments, but I refused."

"WHAT?!" Naruto and Sakura shouted in shock.

Sasuke clenched his fist and through gritted teeth, hissed, "That sick son of a bitch."

"I'm so sorry, Sasuke," Karin murmured. _Suigetsu…Sakura… this is all my fault, _she thought.

"There's nothing to apologize for," Sasuke remarked calmly, almost piteously. "I'm going to go after him. I can't have him meddling with the Uchiha anymore; the restoration of my clan is none of his damn business. I never should've let that monster out of my sight."

"Let me go with you. He'll stand no chance against the two of us combined," Naruto suggested.

"Orochimaru is _my _responsibility. I already brought him both out of and into this world; if he's up to no good then I need to ensure he's eliminated _for good_," said Sasuke.

"But he'll have Kabuto with him. Even if you can take him on, you don't have the senjutsu that I have," Naruto said.

"If you insist on coming, then you can come. Just don't get in my way," said Sasuke.

"I'm coming too," Sakura added. Sasuke looked surprised. Naruto shouted, "Absolutely not!"

"Naruto, please. I've been wanting to fight Kabuto for some time now to see if I've surpassed him. Furthermore, Tsunade-sama is one of the only ninjas who can hold their own against Orochimaru, and I have mastered all of her techniques," Sakura reasoned.

"Hold her own, but not defeat," Sasuke stated. Sakura shot an angry glare at him.

"Yeah, and it's not like you have sage powers or the rinnegan, no offense," Naruto added.

"What did you say?" Sakura asked Naruto calmly, a sinister smile on her face as she held out her pinky finger an inch away from Naruto's stomach. Naruto jumped back a bit, a grimace on his face. "I think you two have gotten a bit too full of yourselves, if you ask me. I need to come with you to make sure you don't do anything stupid. Our teamwork _sucks _and we might as well get started on fixing it."

"_Hn_." Sasuke turned away. Naruto nodded nervously.

"I feel like I should go, too," Karin added. "I want to see Orochimaru taken out for all that he's done, plus you'll need a sensor."

"No, you stay here and rest, Karin. You've already been through enough trouble on my behalf," said Sasuke. "Since you two insist on coming, I'll have you know I plan to leave as soon as possible. Meet me at the village gates in an hour. I won't wait." And with that, Sasuke darted off.

"JEEZ! I'm so freakin' sick of his attitude! Anyways, I'm going to ask Kakashi-sensei if he wants to come too, Sakura-chan. It certainly wouldn't hurt to have him with us. Oh, and I'm going to have to let Hinata know I'll be gone, of course…oh, how will I live without her?" Naruto pouted.

"Stop being such a drama queen and move your ass. We've only got an hour," Sakura barked at him.

"'Kay, I'm going, I'm going!" Naruto sighed as he ran out the door. Sakura turned to Karin and in a hushed voice, whispered, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…I think so," Karin replied shakily.

"I…I had no idea that Orochimaru was threatening you to…I'm so sorry," Sakura admitted.

"No…no…I'm the one who should be sorry for not being honest. To be fair, it didn't start off that way; I legitimately wanted Sasuke, but he didn't want me. We only got together recently, and that's when Orochimaru threatened me. That time, when I came to you for the emergency contraception….it was Suigetsu who I'd slept with," Karin confessed.

"Oh." Sakura blushed and looked down awkwardly. "Do you like him? Suigetsu-kun, I mean?"

"Maybe, but that's not important right now. What's important is that you make sure to give Orochimaru an extra hard pummeling for me. And don't let those dumb boys steal the spotlight!" Karin insisted.

"Mmmmm!" Sakura nodded cheerfully. She flexed her bicep. "Don't you worry, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve that I've been _dying_ to show off. You can count on me!"

"Stay safe. Orochimaru is a cunning little shit," Karin warned her.

"I know. I've dealt with him multiple times; I will _not_ underestimate him. I'll see you after the mission. If you need anything, Tsunade-sama and the girls will be glad to help," Sakura replied.

And with that, Karin slumped back into her hospital bed, feeling a heavy weight being lifted off her chest.

* * *

Author's Note: Okay, so there may be some medical inaccuracies here. I am not a spinal surgeon, but let's pretend Sakura and Tsunade are more advanced than real doctors and can basically get rid of paralysis for people who have had spinal trauma (and also that someone whose spine has been snapped can be resuscitated).


	20. Chapter 20

Author's Note: Again, sorry for the potentially OOC Shiho in this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 20

_Dear Suigetsu,_

_Hi! How are you? Hope you're not too __**bent**__ out of shape!_

_Hi! How are you doing? I'm glad you're not dead. Then I would have no one to torment._

_Hey. How are you doing? I am well. How are you doing? FUCK I JUST WROTE THAT._

Karin groaned in exasperated frustration as she scribbled all over her journal. Why did approaching Suigetsu have to be so damn _hard_? All she had to do was hop over to his room, ask him how he was doing, and tell him she was glad he was okay. But every time she told herself she would do it, she chickened out. For three days now she had been agonizing over their awkward reunion, and no matter how many times she wrote out what she was going to say in her journal, it never sounded right.

"_Of course it's not going to sound right if you keep on obsessing about it_," Hinata had told her. "_Just go and see him and the words will come out naturally_."

"_Yeah, but…he can't know I actually like him! Then I'll look stupid_!" Karin had retorted, her ears pink.

Hinata laughed. "_I know that feeling. Suigetsu-kun might be thinking the exact same thing. Just do what feels right_."

"I feel like I could really use a drink. _That _feels right," Karin muttered aloud.

"I could go get you one," Juugo replied.

"Shit! I totally forgot you were here!" Karin gasped, embarrassed. Juugo had actually been sitting quietly with her for several hours now

"Do you want me to get you a drink?" Juugo asked again.

"No, no! Don't worry about it!" Karin sighed.

"I think I'm going to go visit Suigetsu then," said Juugo.

"W-wait! I just realized I have business on that side of the hospital wing! I'll go with you!" Karin laughed nervously.

"Are you even allowed to leave the room?" Juugo questioned.

"I should've been able to leave two days ago, but they're weak here in Konoha," Karin muttered. She still hadn't been officially discharged even though it had only taken her a day to recover. Spending all this time in the hospital was starting to make her go mad.

Karin's heart pounded furiously as she walked with Juugo towards Suigetsu's room. What would she say? What if she was forced to reveal her feelings? What if Suigetsu laughed at her? What if she got too horny and fucked him on the hospital bed in front of Juugo? That might've been a sexy idea if Karin wasn't so damn sick of the place…

Karin felt lightheaded and her hands clammed up as they finally reached Suigetsu's room. He was lying down with his arms behind his head, looking very bored. Karin's heart skipped a beat as he turned around and in a surprised tone of voice, exclaimed, "Juugo! Karin…"

"How are you, Suigetsu?" Juugo asked.

"Uhhh…well, I'm alive. I've had better days," Suigetsu replied lightheartedly. "Uh, Juugo, do you mind if I speak to Karin alone for a minute?"

Karin's heart leapt out of its chest. "W-what? I just happened to be walking by when Juugo dragged me in here! I…I just remembered I've got business to take care of!"

She sped off in the hallway.

_Shit shit shit fuck fuck fuck shit fuck shit fuck shit fuck fuck fuck DAMN IT!_

She ran back to her room and slammed the door. She slumped down against it, gasping for air.

_I couldn't do it. I couldn't even say "hi" to him. Pathetic, _she thought. _But what am I supposed to do? I'm still technically with Sasuke, and what if Suigetsu hasn't forgiven me? What if he doesn't want me and I thought he liked me because I was being delusional, like I was with Sasuke? Whhhhhhhy?_

Karin continued to agonize over what happened for the rest of the day. It also didn't help that she hadn't heard any word about the mission.

She was finally discharged the next day. At first, Karin didn't know what to do, but then she thought of something that may be worth her time.

_Ding dong!_ Karin anxiously waited in front of the yellow house. After about thirty seconds, Shiho's mother opened the door.

"Oh, it's you…did you hear about what happened to Suigetsu-kun? Terrible, isn't it?"

"Yeah…I'm sure Shiho isn't feeling too great about it," Karin replied.

"The poor thing's been locked in her room crying for days. She won't tell me anything. Maybe you'd be able to get something out of her. Teens these days just don't want tell their parents anything!" Shiho's mother complained.

"Yeah, I'll talk some sense into her," Karin said. She was lead upstairs to what she assumed to be Shiho's room. Shiho's mother knocked on the door.

"Shiho-chan! A friend's here to see you!" she called.

"GO AWAY, MOM! I DON'T HAVE ANY FRIENDS!" a muffled, weepy voice shouted through the door.

"Shiho, it's Karin. Open the door," Karin called.

There was complete silence for a few seconds. Then, a shuffling. Shiho, red-cheeked and disheveled looking, opened the door.

"Come in," she said weakly.

Karin had to admit that Shiho was looking more pathetic than usual. Her messy blonde hair looked even frizzier than it usually was; it probably hadn't been brushed since that night. There were piles of crumpled up tissues everywhere, and all her blinds had been closed. She was eating a pint of ice cream.

"This is so unlike you, Shiho-chan," Shiho's mother said sadly.

"Mom, can I talk to Karin alone, please?" Shiho muttered. Shiho's mother nodded sheepishly and walked away. There was an awkward pause.

"Soooooo…I can tell you've had better days," Karin said awkwardly. "Look about Suigetsu...if you're upset about what happened, it's not your—"

"Oh, I couldn't care less about what happened to _him_," Shiho said nonchalantly.

"Oh…well…that's…awkward," Karin replied. _Patience, Karin, patience. Don't beat her to a bloody pulp._ "Uhhh…so have you been upset this whole time over Shikamaru-kun then?"

At the mention of the name, Shiho's lip quivered. She reached for a tissue and blew her nose. Karin sighed.

"Listen. Shiho. I have no right to judge because I've been there. I get it. You probably feel like this is the worst feeling in the world and you'll never get over him. I felt the same way about Sasuke."

"And how would _you _know?" Shiho snapped.

"I pined over Sasuke for years, and then he stabbed me through the chest…literally. I _still_ wanted him after that."

Shiho looked taken aback, but she stubbornly retorted, "Well, Shikamaru-kun isn't a scumbag like Sasuke-kun is; he'd never treat a woman like that. He's the perfect boyfriend_._"

"No he isn't. Shiho, have you even had a conversation that was longer than five minutes with the guy?" Karin asked incredulously.

"Uhhhh….no."

"Trust me, if you actually get to know a guy you'll see how obnoxious he truly is. You can't really say you _love_ someone unless you spend enough time with him to know how obnoxious he is but want to be with him despite all of that. _Lust _is when you chase after the ideal version of him in your head."

Shiho burst into tears.

"I'm so pathetic aren't I?" she sobbed.

"Yeah, but at least you've never watched a guy sleep or take a shower or steal his clothes. Or his toothbrush. Or thought obsessively about licking his nipples," Karin muttered.

"…you actually did those things?"

"Anyways, my point is that I was just being a stupid hormonal teenager when I did those things…and if I was batshit crazier than you, then you can _definitely_ get over him. It may not happen today. It may not happen tomorrow. It may take months; maybe years to get over him; but you'll find someone else –or just be happy being single; that's cool too."

Karin felt pretty damn proud of herself. _I've grown to be so wise and mature_. _She'll have to see the error of her ways and thank me now._

Shiho sniffled again and looked Karin dead straight in the eye. "But you ended up with Sasuke-kun in the end…even though you're a _skank _who slept with that disgusting fish boy."

Karin was taken aback. "Uhhhh…so…did you?"

"Even you know! Damn it!" Shiho bit her lip. "I'm just going to have to try even _harder_ to make sure my feelings reach Shikamaru-kun and find a way to purify my hymen…"

Clearly Shiho would not be reasoned with at the moment. Karin had to quickly wrap up business.

"Uh, well, good luck with that. Anyways, I've come for Suigetsu's sword so give it to me and then you'll never have to talk to either of us again," Karin requested.

"Negative. I plan on using it for my research, since it is, after all, a historical artifact—"

But before Shiho could finish, Karin grabbed the sword and swung it clumsily in Shiho's face, cracking her thick bottle glasses. Karin couldn't believe how heavy the sword was. _No wonder why Suigetsu has those sexy muscular arms, _she thought.

"That's nice, bitch, but I'm still taking this because I am a felon, like you suspected from the beginning. Go and report me if you'd like, but I _will break you_," Karin threatened. Shiho just stood there dumbly as a drop of ice cream fell from her spoon to the ground. Karin felt hungry all of a sudden. "Oh, and I'll be taking _this_ too." Karin grabbed Shiho's ice cream with her free arm. She slowly backed away to the window, still pointing the executioner's blade in Shiho's terrified face, before doing a backwards somersault out the window.

_Wow, I'm such a fucking badass, _Karin thought to herself as she walked through the streets of Konoha with a bigass sword flung over her back while licking a pint of vanilla-chocolate swirl ice cream. _I'll burst in through Suigetsu's door and yell "Surprise, Bitch!" or something like that. He'll like that._

Thus, Karin was very embarrassed when she kicked the door open to Suigetsu's hospital room and yelled, "Surprise, Bitch!" only to find that he had been moved and had been replaced by an elderly man. Upon seeing the executioner's blade, the poor old man wet himself and Karin had to sort out the fiasco with the hospital staff. After spending nearly an hour convincing them that it had been an accident and she meant no harm, she finally went to go see Suigetsu in his relocated room.

And he was asleep.

Karin sighed. She gently leaned the sword in the corner of the room and sat on the side of the bed. His face looked so peaceful as he lightly snoozed. Karin brushed his bangs out of his eyes and ran her fingers through his silky white hair.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Karin muttered out loud. If someone had asked her a few months ago if she could ever fall for Suigetsu, she would've said, "_ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" _Have drunken hate sex with him, maybe, but actually feel butterflies in her stomach over him? Karin didn't even feel tempted to cop a feel; she just wanted to be with Suigetsu in peace and quiet. _For once._


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

A few days later, Karin heard from Hinata that Sasuke's team had returned to the village. They were all okay, although Sasuke had apparently almost died. She still wasn't completely sure of the details, so she asked Karin if she wanted to go see Naruto with her. Karin agreed, although she felt really anxious about seeing Sasuke again.

Karin found Naruto at the Hokage's headquarters. As soon as Naruto saw Hinata, his entire face lit up. He nearly crushed her with a big bear hug.

"I missed you so much," he groaned into Hinata's ear.

"Na-naruto-kun!" Hinata yelped, blushing.

"Naruto, you're either going to kill your girlfriend or kill me from the mushy-ness overload," Karin said, snapping an embarrassed Naruto out of his lovey-dovey state.

"Heh heh, sorry Cuz. How are you doing?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Fine, thanks. It's been a bit boring around here without you. But now that you're back, I'm assuming things are taken care of. Is…Orochimaru-sama…?" Karin asked hesitantly.

"If you mean he's gone for good, I'm not sure. Sakura-chan did something really amazing with medical ninjutsu to incapacitate Orochimaru; I was fighting Kabuto but he saw what happened and went after Sakura-chan like mad. Sasuke ended up taking a really huge blow for her, which put him out for awhile. That actually ended up working to our advantage because they didn't want Sasuke dead, so they basically surrendered. Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei, and I tried to talk things out with them, but in the end, Sasuke sealed both Kabuto and Orochimaru in an alternate dimension using some genjutsu. I don't know if it was the right thing to do, but what they were going to do to Sasuke was really freaky…I don't even know if I should tell you…"

"I've worked under Orochimaru for _years_. I've seen all of his horrific experiments and I was part of them myself. Nothing you tell me will traumatize me further at this point," Karin replied.

Naruto sighed. "They basically had about a hundred girls with special bloodlines locked away in cells. Some of them were as young as twelve; it was horrifying. Their intent was to impregnate them all with Sasuke's…uhhh…you know." Naruto's face turned bright red as he looked away. Hinata looked utterly repulsed. "Orochimaru wanted to create his own hidden village and breed an elite shinobi army. Needless to say, doing that without Sasuke's consent didn't fly well."

"Yeah, I basically could guess as much, but I had no idea that Orochimaru had kidnapped that many women for that purpose. That's perverted, but it's not surprising. Sasuke did the right thing; too many people have suffered because of that bastard," said Karin coldly.

"I can't argue with you there," Naruto agreed.

"So where are your teammates? I know they're around," Karin questioned.

"Uh, well Kakashi-sensei is talking to Tsunade-sama about what happened and why Sasuke sent Orochimaru and Kabuto to another dimension even after they'd been incapacitated instead of holding them for questioning. Sasuke is in the hospital and Sakura-chan…uhhh…I actually don't know where she is. Strange… she told me she was going to talk to Tsunade-sama about providing health assistance to all of the kidnapped women…"

Karin focused on finding Sakura's chakra. She smelled a faint scent of cherry blossoms and felt a fire-and-ice sensation. "She's with Sasuke," Karin stated.

"Alone?" Naruto asked, a bit wide-eyed.

"As far as I know, yeah," Karin said.

"That's really interesting. There's been…uhhh…how should I say this…a lot of tension between them lately," Naruto said hesitantly, trying to find the right words.

"And I'm sure that includes the sexual kind," Karin said nonchalantly, causing Naruto to freak out.

"It's-it's not like that! Okay, maybe Sakura-chan may kinda sorta still be into him but he doesn't care! He's like, 'I'm too cool for you because I love Karin so much!'"

"Do you think I was born yesterday?" Karin asked raising an eyebrow. "Sasuke would never say that."

"You're right…shit. But he, uh, portrays it in his body language! Yeah!" Naruto laughed nervously.

"Eh, well, we'll see. I've been looking for a good excuse to break up with him anyways and this might be it." Karin shrugged as she started walking in the direction of the exit.

Naruto gasped. "No way! I'm going to have to be there for Sasuke's emotional support!"

"You lying liar. You just want to see him get dumped," Karin retorted.

"Yeah, kinda." Naruto snorted a bit. He wrapped his arm around Hinata and gloated, "Especially because I have a girlfriend and he doesn't!"

Hinata nonchalantly moved Naruto's arm over her head and off her back. "You know I love you, Naruto-kun, but I am _not_ going to be a pawn in your unhealthy lifelong bromance…I mean…_battle…_with Sasuke-kun."

Naruto gasped. "HINATA!" Karin chuckled. "See? She's secretly quite sassy now, isn't she?"

"You're…you're not breaking up with _me_ too, are you?" Naruto pouted. Karin and Hinata looked at each other and laughed.

"Yup. She's totally breaking up with you because she hates you and your orange jumpsuit is embarrassing her," Karin teased.

"I know, I mean it's so obvious how much I hate Naruto-kun. He's just so cowardly and lame and ugly. I can't help but faint around him because he is just so disgusting," Hinata giggled.

"Haha. Not funny, you two. You stop corrupting my girlfriend, ya' hear, Cuz?"

"No worries; Hinata was corrupted long before she met me. Don't you worry, Naruto boy, Hinata has some quite detailed plans about what she wants to do to you—" Karin started mischievously, but Hinata covered her mouth. Her cheeks and ears were burning.

"I just remembered that I have a family meeting in a half hour. Better get going!" Hinata ran off with her head to the ground. Naruto just stood there blinking.

"I am so confused."

"Well, that's because you're a dumbass, but Hinata loves you anyways. You still coming with me to spy on Sausage and Pinky?"

"Yes, but only because you just called Sasuke a sausage and you are officially my favorite cousin now."

Karin laughed.

Karin really didn't know what to expect or how she would react to Sasuke. Knowing him, she didn't expect him to be doing anything lovey dovey with Sakura, but maybe he would surprise her today. Karin secretly hoped that she didn't walk in on anything like that—not because it would make her jealous, but because she wanted to be the one to dump Sasuke. She couldn't let him have an edge on her.

They finally approached the room. Naruto banged loudly on the door. "Sasuke! It's me and Karin! Can we come in?" They both heard quiet whispers and what might have been some sniffles, but no answer.

Naruto and Karin looked at each other.

"Should I open the door anyways?" Naruto whispered.

"I wouldn't have even knocked," Karin replied.

"Damn, I hope Sakura-chan doesn't punch me. You owe me ramen if she punches me, okay?"

"Okay."

Naruto gulped and opened the door. Sakura was sobbing into Sasuke's chest, while Sasuke held her shoulders, looking utterly burnt out. Karin had never seen him look this…._vulnerable. _

"Ummmm…sorry for intruding!" Naruto laughed sheepishly. Sasuke just looked at him. Then he looked away.

"Karin, just give us a minute. I want to talk to you," he said calmly.

"Uh, sure," mumbled Karin as she quietly closed the door. There was an awkward silence.

"Well, that was awkward," Naruto said, trying to diffuse the tension.

"Yeah, but it looks like Sasuke is finally sorting things out like a normal human being. He doesn't show his feelings easily, but when he does, I think it really overwhelms him," Karin observed.

"Yeah. But that's the strength of Sakura-chan's feelings for ya'. I think he's only figuring out now how lucky he is," he said quietly, feigning a lopsided smile.

"Does it upset you?" Karin asked.

Naruto paused. "Upset is not the right word; it's more like a bittersweet feeling. I think it's great that they may find happiness with each other, but I think it will be a bit more lonely for me around them….which is silly, because I have Hinata and so many other friends. I am definitely falling for Hinata, don't get me wrong, but it's hard to get over your first crush..." Naruto's voice trailed off.

"It's not silly; I know exactly how you feel. There are different kinds of love; you don't have to feel bad about loving more than one person at once."

Naruto looked at Karin. "What about you? How do you feel?"

"I feel…content," Karin replied.

And that was that….

…until Sakura slammed open the door, yelled, "NARUTTTTO YOU DUMMY!" and punched him square in the face.

"On second thought," he muttered, looking up at Karin with a black eye, "I'm content too."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sakura snapped. She looked at Karin, "I'm sorry about that, Karin. It must have looked like—"

"Oh, I don't care if you were just having a heart to heart or were shoving your tongue down his throat. Give me five minutes with him and then he's all yours." Karin shrugged as a blushing Sakura was rendered speechless.

She walked through the door to Sasuke's room and took a deep breath.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Karin wouldn't even let Sasuke talk when she entered the room. He tried to say something but Karin put a finger to his lips and whispered, "_Shhhhh." _Sasuke looked utterly perplexed.

"Don't say a word. I've gotta' have my say and you're gonna' listen. _Then _I'll allow you to talk." Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. She sighed and cleared her throat, "Before I go on my diatribe, I will at least thank you for taking out Orochimaru-sama, because that bastard doesn't deserve to live. But I also wanted you to know that this wasn't all of Orochimaru-sama's bullshit; it's not like he's been forcing me to jump you for years. I sincerely wanted you for the longest time. Ever since that fateful day when you saved me from that hugeass bear in the forest of death…"

"That was you?" Sasuke asked, surprised.

"Did I say you could talk yet?" Karin snapped. Sasuke glared at her. "Anyways," she continued, "I was absolutely smitten with you. Obsessed. Religiously fanatical, even. I worshipped the very ground you walked on and tried to find any way I could to interact with you, spy on you, and even steal your personal possessions. Fucked up, I know, but hey, hormones. This may be surprising to you because I know I've acted like a bitch around you, but I had a tough reputation to maintain, you know?"

"Are you kidding me?" Sasuke muttered.

"SHUT YOUR TRAP!" Karin barked. "So imagine my delight when my savior asked me to join him on his epic journey. I thought to myself, '_This is it, Karin. You are finally going to go out there and get your man.' _But did that happen? _Noooooooooooo_. I was cockblocked, insulted, shot down, and forced to deal with two homicidal maniacs. So when said homicidal maniacs were finally out of the picture, I told myself again, '_This is it, Karin. This time, you are getting your man for SURE.' _And how does he repay me for all my loyalty? BY STABBING ME THROUGH THE FUCKING CHEST! That _wasn't _the kind of penetration I wanted, thank you very much!"

Sasuke just blinked.

"And so there I was, on my death bed, seeing my life flash before me, bitterly contemplating the irony of it all. And then this pink bitch shows up…and I can just tell from listening to her for one minute that this girl absolutely loves this guy, maybe even more than I do. Normally, I would've beaten that bitch to a pulp, but in that moment, I was rooting for her. All I could think was, '_Please save him, you pink bitch, please show me that there's still some good left in him before I die_.' And what does he do? He tries to kill her _too_! That was a dark day; a dark day indeed. I had a lot of time to reflect after that ordeal. I struggled a lot at first, because on one hand, I had loved this guy for years and years, but on the other hand, how could I allow myself to be with someone so cruel and heartless?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"So it seemed too good to be true when I got back into his good graces and he asked me to be his girlfriend. I had wanted that for so long, yet…it brought me no joy. He just wasn't right for me, and it took me awhile to admit it. Ironically, as I fell out of lust with him, Orochimaru-sama started threatening me, so of course I had to comply. But now he's gone and that's history, and now my throat hurts from talking so much so, to put it simply, I'm breaking up with you."

"Okay," said Sasuke.

"Good…wait, no! You're not upset?!" Karin said crossly. _I can't walk away after that without my dignity!_

"Karin, let's cut the dramatics and the bullshit. Both of us know that from day one, I did not love you and I mistreated you. Even when I stopped mistreating you, I still didn't love you. You have every right to break up with me, because we both know that it was never going to work and the relationship was causing you nothing but strife."

"HA! So you admit that you _were_ lying that time that you said that I would make perfect wife material to revive your clan with!" Karin retorted, trying to find some way to humiliate Sasuke.

Sasuke sighed. "Yes. I lied—"

"Why?" Karin demanded.

"Because…" Sasuke paused. "Because I was lonely."

"Yeah, but you would think after all you put me through, that you would at least have the decency to stop emotionally manipulating me—"

"Don't lecture me when you're no saint yourself, Karin. There are things that you have been hiding from me," Sasuke said coldly.

"Eh?" Karin's heart skipped a beat. _He can't possibly know about Suigetsu and I_!

"Shortly after I returned to Konoha, Sakura confronted me and said some eerily similar words to some of the ones you just uttered now. Imagine my confusion when someone who I thought never wanted to talk to me again was trying to get me to eat her food, converse with me when no one else would, and bust her back helping me on a mission—even save my life, despite everything I had done to her. Something didn't add up, and when I asked her about that confrontation, she had no idea what I was talking about." He shot a smug look at a wide-eyed Karin.

"We-elllll, will you look at the time? I've got to go feed Juugo's pet birds…" Karin stammered nervously as she made a run for the door.

"Karin. Wait," Sasuke interjected. Karin turned around and asked impatiently, "What? I spilled my dirt and you spilled yours. We're done; end of story."

"I just want you to know that I really am sorry this time. Not just for that time, but for everything."

"Apology accepted. But you know; you don't need to apologize for _everything_. If it weren't for you and your crazy revenge plots, then I never would've met my cousin Naruto or Hinata…or Sakura…" _Or Suigetsu, _Karin thought. "I meant what I said before; that pink bitch fucking loves you, Sasuke. I don't know why, because you sure as hell don't deserve it, but she does."

"I know," he replied quietly.

"You've got to be good to her or else you'll have several angry people after you, myself included," Karin warned.

"_Hn_," was all Sasuke uttered. He looked away. Karin smiled and quietly closed the door. Sakura and Naruto were whispering rapidly to each other out in the hallway. They jerked around when they saw Karin.

"So, uh, how did it go?" Naruto asked.

"I dumped his ass, like I said I would," Karin gloated.

"How did he take it?" Naruto questioned again.

"You know, he is just so devastated that I think you should go cheer him up," Karin suggested. She winked at Sakura, who looked surprised.

"Heh. Will do!" Naruto chuckled as he ran into Sasuke's room, slamming the door loudly behind him.

"What _really_ happened?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"I could ask the same of you, but I'll go first. I broke up with him, but he didn't care. Kind of wounded my pride, actually…" Karin admitted. "So now you have to spill the deets on what happened just now."

"Ah, do I have to?" Sakura groaned.

"Just a quick summary will suffice."

"Well, you were right…Sasuke-kun _doesn't_ completely hate me. During the battle on the mission, Kabuto went after me, which – by the way – I dominated; even _Sasuke-kun_ complimented my sealing techniques. Anyways, I was sealing Orochimaru's arms and Kabuto came out of _nowhere_ and all of a sudden, Sasuke-kun just leapt in front of me and took the blow. I was so shocked at first that I couldn't even think, but then I saw him fading and had to save him, fast. Then things were really awkward and we didn't talk much, but I felt terrible that I thought he didn't care about me and that I had tried to kill him that time, so I said some stupid things and started crying, and he said he was sorry too. Then he thanked me and didn't say anything else while I just continued to cry like an idiot."

"That was a really quick summary," Karin said sarcastically, "and stop beating yourself up. It was _not_ your damn fault that Sasuke went nuts; you did the sensible thing by being prepared to fight him to the death when he was at his worst."

"Sorry!" Sakura replied sheepishly.

"So… are you still going to go after our brooding boy now that I'm done with him?" Karin teased.

"I can't really think like that right now," Sakura answered. "So much has happened between us and there are still some glaring issues we have to work through. I'm just happy that Sasuke-kun is back; not only physically but mentally. I'm too busy to worry about romance now anyways."

"That's smart," Karin added. "You should focus on yourself before you jump into anything serious. We're not even adults yet, after all."

"I guess you're right," Sakura said, smiling faintly.

"Anyways, I'll be seeing you around. I've got some _other_ business I've got to take care of," Karin stated

"'Kay, hope your talk goes well with Suigetsu-kun," Sakura called after her, "and don't forget that the walls here are paper thin."

"W-what makes you think I would be doing anything scandalous, you pink bitch?!" Karin stammered.

"I didn't say anything of the sort," Sakura replied slyly. "_You _were the one who assigned a suggestive meaning to it."

"Y-yeah…well, can it!" Karin shouted stupidly at Sakura as she walked hastily away, her cheeks burning.


	23. Chapter 23

Author's Note: We're almost at the end, folks! Thanks for sticking around and reading and as you can probably guess, THERE BE SMUT AHEAD. As always, please leave feedback!

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Chapter 23

Feeling a bit bold, Karin unzipped her jacket partway before entering Suigetsu's room. This time he was clumsily walking around on crutches. When he saw Karin, he smirked.

"Welllll, look what the cat dragged in."

"I see that you're awake, unfortunately, and have returned to being your obnoxious self," Karin replied shortly.

"Thanks. Just admit it though, Karin—you would've missed me."

"Only as a punching bag," Karin retorted.

"Ouch. That's okay. The lovely ladies here at the hospital have been _much _kinder to me. They were so skilled in their services that I have to limp around on these crutches for awhile," Suigetsu responded suggestively.

"Pervert! No one wants to hear that kind of filth," Karin chastised.

"You can scorn me all you want but I _know_ all the kinds of kinky things you've probably done with your beloved Sasuke," Suigetsu retorted.

Karin raised an eyebrow. "Do you now?"

Suigetsu was taken aback. "Really? No punch? No kick? Did Sasuke fuck you up the ass into submission—"

_Whack!_ Karin punched Suigetsu in the gut, causing water to splash all over her. He fell to the floor with a thud.

"He did _no_ such thing!" Karin snapped through gritted teeth.

"What the fuck?! Can't you see I'm crippled here? If you're just going to abuse me, why don't you just leave me alone?"

Karin was furious. "If it weren't partly for me, you wouldn't even be _alive _right now so I don't know why you're being such an ungrateful little bitch. I even lugged your sword back up here from your crazy ex-girlfriend…"

"Y-you did?" Suigetsu questioned.

"Yeah," she fumed, "and we made fun of your pathetic little dick!"

Just then, a nurse came in.

"Is everything okay in here?" she asked in concern.

"Oh, it's just peachy," Suigetsu said sarcastically.

"Yeah, it's fine," Karin muttered in embarrassment. The nurse left. Karin shifted uncomfortably, realizing how awkward it had become.

"Just go back to fucking your precious Sasuke and leave me alone," Suigetsu said coldly. He stirred feebly on the ground and reached for his crutches. Before he could, Karin aggressively flipped him over and pinned his hands to the ground.

"No, I won't," she hissed.

"Lemme' go, bitch!" He squirmed under Karin's grip. "You have your little Sasuke to play with; doesn't he satisfy your twisted needs? I'm done trying to break you up; it was never going to wo—"

Karin smashed her lips into his, quickly and forcefully. As she pulled away, she opened her eyes to see Suigetsu's baffled expression.

"I will _not_ go back to fucking Sasuke, especially because I never fucked him in the first place, and I don't even want to anymore. I just broke up with him five minutes ago because I'm done with his bullshit. _You_ were my first and only. I may hate your guts, but you're the only man I want," she whispered.

"Yeah right," Suigetsu scoffed.

"It's true; I lost my virginity to you…I mean I _did_ touch Sasuke's dick but that was it—"

"You WHAT?!" Suigetsu yelled.

"Oh, don't be like that. You had sex and did who knows what else with Shiho," Karin pointed out.

"You're right, but …it just pisses me off," Suigetsu muttered, looking away.

"There's no need to be jealous," Karin insisted. "I finally had the opportunity to jump Sasuke and didn't take it. I'm here jumping you instead."

"So…are you admitting that you have the hots for me?" Suigetsu asked smugly.

"Yes, you buffoon. I can't believe I have to repeat myself, you stupidass Kapp-ahhhh!" Karin groaned as Suigetsu's lips pressed against hers. His fingers laced themselves into hers so she was no longer holding him down. They kissed passionately and deeply for what felt like at least five minutes. It was like electricity; every peck, every lip bite, every time their intimate areas ground up against each other sent chills up Karin's spine. Of course they would kiss like this after having just screamed obscenities at each other; of course. Karin wouldn't have it any other way.

Suigetsu stopped kissing her for a second to whisper in her ear, "You're mine" and then bit her neck. Karin moaned deliciously. Feeling a surge of horniness, she repositioned herself so she was straddling Suigetsu.

"No…you're _mine_," she said huskily as she gyrated into his crotch. Now Suigetsu moaned. Karin gasped at the contact, feeling Suigetsu's hardness digging into her clit through her shorts.

"Oh God, I want you so bad right now, Karin," Suigetsu groaned.

"Me too," Karin agreed, "I don't care if we do it right here on the floor. I want your cock inside me."

"You mean my pathetic little one?" Suigetsu teased as he thrust himself into Karin. Karin shivered.

"W-well, I g-guess it's not _that_ pathetic," she sputtered, blushing. She groaned in disappointment when he broke the crotch contact for a second to sit up. She purred delightfully, however, when he placed her into his lap and stroked her back down to her ass.

"Here's the thing," he said. "As much as I'd like to do you right here and now, there are three problems. One, I don't have any condoms with me. Two, my lower body strength still isn't all there yet so I'm kind of limited. You'll have to be on top. Three, we're in a hospital and I _know_ how loud you can get…"

"Or," Karin suggested, "we could 69 and fuck em' if they want to stop us."

Suigetsu grinned devilishly. "I love you, do you know that?"

Karin blushed. "You sure don't act like it," she muttered.

Suigetsu chuckled and kissed her. "Come on. Help me up onto the bed and then we can have some fun."

Karin nodded shyly and supported him on her shoulder. She let him scoot on the hospital bed first and climbed on top of him. Suigetsu grabbed her waist and pulled her in close to him.

"I want to get a real good look at you this time. I'll undress you if you undress me," he whispered into her ear.

"Challenge accepted." Karin grinned and unbuttoned Suigetsu out of his hospital gown, exposing his delicious chest. She planted kisses down from his neck to his chest before giving his nipple a playful lick. Suigetsu groaned.

"You bitch." Suigetsu unzipped Karin's jacket and tossed it to the ground. Suigetsu stared.

"What? Never seen a pair of tits before?" Karin teased.

"Heh. Just kinda' surprised an uptight girl like you is walking around all loosy goosy." Suigetsu smirked.

"I never liked bras." Karin shrugged.

"Well, that's okay with me; makes it easier for me to see your tits through your shirt. They're nice and perky." He flicked one of Karin's nipples with his thumb, causing her to grind her pelvis into his. Karin was pleasantly surprised that he did not insult their size. She wrapped her arms around his neck for another hot kiss. Her breasts rubbed up against his chest, causing her to become incredibly aroused. Suigetsu was clearly aroused too, as Karin felt his dick getting even stiffer against her gyrations. They groaned into each other's mouths every time their intimate areas made contact. Suigetsu experimentally stuck his tongue into Karin's mouth, and they clumsily French-kissed. While doing so, Suigetsu stuck his hand down Karin's shorts into her panties. She gasped.

"Oh, you're nice and wet," he whispered breathlessly. He rubbed her slick folds.

"Oh God, Suigetsu, that feels so good. Oh—!" Karin gasped again as Suigetsu took her nipple into his mouth. He sucked on her while rubbing her clit. Karin was in absolute ecstasy.

"You like that, huh?" Suigetsu stopped sucking on her nipple to whisper in her ear. "You like it when that disgusting kappa touches your juicy little pussy."

Karin moaned.

"I'll eat out that juicy pussy of yours if you suck my cock."

"Oh God, yes," Karin pleaded. She repositioned herself so her butt was in front of Suigetsu's face. She pulled his pants down and felt drool emerge when his hard dick sprung out. It wasn't as big as the first time but it was still a decent size. She was so fixated on his dick that she didn't feel Suigetsu tug her shorts and panties down.

"Shit, your ass and pussy are spread nice and wide," Suigetsu groaned. Karin saw a bit of precum leak out from the head of his penis. She smiled and gripped him tightly. She shivered when she felt Suigetsu rub her pussy.

She turned her head slightly and stated, "I've never sucked cock before so don't give me a hard time."

"That's okay, your pussy is giving me a rather _hard_ time too," Suigetsu teased.

"Ha. Very funny," Karin said sarcastically. She leaned down and licked Suigetsu up his shaft to his tip. She shivered as Suigetsu started pumping his finger in and out of her soaking vagina. She cupped Suigetsu's balls with one hand and started to pump his penis at the same speed he was pumping her pussy. The room was filled with gasps and moans as the two young lovers pleasured each other.

Suigetsu removed his finger for a second and Karin sighed in disappointment.

"Don't stop touching me," she pouted.

"Oh, don't you worry. I'm gonna' eat your delicious cunt now," Suigetsu replied smugly. He rubbed her clit while he prodded at her entrance with his tongue. Karin squealed and had to stop pumping his dick for a few seconds because the pleasure was just so overwhelming.

"Oh that's the spot, you son of a bitch," she groaned as he licked her clit. Karin took Suigetsu into her mouth and caressed his head with her tongue. Suigetsu grunted into her pussy and proceeded to eat her out even more voraciously than he had been. He alternated between sucking on her clit and devouring her juicy wet cunt while Karin pumped Suigetsu's throbbing dick in and out of her mouth. She was getting close, and she could tell he was too. She stopped sucking for a moment to cry, "Damn it-_anh_! Suigetsu—you're so incredible! At this rate, I'm gonna—!"

"Me too!" Suigetsu groaned. "But ladies first."

Karin shrieked as she felt Suigetsu yank her legs back so her ass was right in his face. He inserted his tongue deeper than before and furiously diddled away at her clit.

"Oh God! Oh yes! Suigetsu!" Karin moaned. She gripped his dick even tighter and sucked on it, although it was difficult because her breathing was becoming more and more unbearably shallow the closer she got to her climax. Finally, the stimulation she was receiving to her clitoris became too much.

"_Annh, Annnh, Annnnh, _Annnnh!" Karin moaned as she felt her vaginal muscles contracting. Suigetsu elicited a guttural noise from his throat as he spasmed and jerked his hips. His hot, salty cum squirted into her mouth. Suigetsu's dick was dangerously close to her gag reflex she had to restrain herself from spitting him out right away. Finally, after Suigetsu slumped down in exhaustion, she released his cock, a string of cum connecting it to her mouth. She collapsed onto Suigetsu's legs, panting heavily.

"That…was so fucking hot," Suigetsu gasped, his chest heaving.

"Oh fuck yeah," Karin agreed breathlessly. "Except you nearly gagged me when you came. Try to be more careful next time."

"Well, at least there will be a next time," Suigetsu panted.

Karin blushed. Was she with Suigetsu now? Granted, normal relationships didn't start off with sex but they weren't exactly normal, were they? The thought of actually being Suigetsu's girlfriend made her uncomfortably dizzy.

Suigetsu reached for a napkin to wipe off the rest of her juices and his penis. He then grabbed Karin and she landed with a thud into his chest.

"You're so sexy," he marveled, squeezing Karin tight.

"You can be pretty sexy too, although I have to say your amazing dick deflates pretty pathetically," Karin teased as she flicked Suigetsu's now flaccid (and significantly smaller) penis.

"Hey, grower not a shower. And even if my dick weren't fucking amazing—which it is, don't deny it—I have my ways of pleasuring you." He smirked.

"I'm sure there are plenty of different ways we can pleasure each other," Karin purred into Suigetsu's ear as she stroked his chest.

"I'm sure there are." Suigetsu smiled, and then, rather cutely, smooched her on the check.

Karin blushed and felt her heart explode.


	24. Epilogue

Epilogue

Karin tilted her head up to the heavens and silently screamed as Suigetsu thrust hardly into her, hitting her g-spot repeatedly. She felt her walls undulate around his thick cock and embraced her orgasm. She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist and dug her nails into his shoulders, drawing a bit of blood, as the hot water pattered down on their slick, naked bodies. Suigetsu jerked his hips into her one last time as he groaned loudly and bit down on her neck.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to have shower sex," Karin panted.

"Same here," Suigetsu agreed. He moved away from the wall so that Karin was no longer pressed against it and kissed her, his hands cupping her ass.

The day had been long anticipated. It had taken Suigetsu two weeks to be released from the hospital, and then he had to endure an additional three months of physical therapy before his lower body strength returned. In the meantime, the two had experimented with many different positions – which Karin enjoyed because many of them established her as the dominant partner. Still, she had been gleefully anticipating (and fantasizing about) the day when Suigetsu finally could take her up against the shower wall.

It was also a bittersweet day, because it would be the last time she'd be seeing Suigetsu for awhile. He had decided to finally leave Konoha and look for other sword wielders to restart the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. He had asked Karin to go with him, and as much as she wanted to, she knew in her heart that she belonged in Konoha with her new family and friends. She changed her registration from the hidden grass to the hidden leaf, and was now a genin (because of her powers, however, she had already been on an A-ranked mission).

The bright side was that they had both signed up to take the chuunin exams in four months, albeit on different teams. Karin was going to be on Naruto and Sasuke's team, which was admittedly a bit awkward, but she had made her peace with Sasuke. There were rumors that Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't even be allowed to participate in the final round because it wouldn't be fair and that they basically had a free ride to chuunin promotion. Karin thought this was a load of bull, but Suigetsu looked forward to the prospect of entertaining the masses by dominating the finals. Karin, of course, had pointed out that he would have to fight her, to which he made a lewd comment about sex tape sales and Karin whacked him.

Until then, they were just going to have to get by without being able to argue or sex each other (their two favorite activities).

After they dried off, they went to the lumpy old bed in the abandoned Uchiha house one last time. Suigetsu would obviously be leaving, and Karin had managed to save up enough money to start renting an apartment. Juugo had also left the house and gone back to being Sasuke's roommate (they were both very quiet and reserved so the arrangement worked very well).

Karin rested her head on Suigetsu's chest as he wrapped his arm around her.

"I can't believe I'm finally going to be rid of your ugly mug tomorrow," Karin said.

"You can still come with me, ya' know," Suigetsu replied.

"We've been through this a million times; you know I can't do that, especially because I have a job and you don't."

"Once I start gathering swordsmen, we'll be making a shit ton on mercenary work. Besides, people still remember my brother and Zabuza-sensei, and once people realize I've surpassed them, making money should be easy."

"Don't get too cocky there," Karin whispered huskily. She lightly trailed her finger down Suigetsu's navel.

"Heh." Suigetsu chuckled. "You know, it's crazy to think that you could've had a big pregnant belly by now. You'd probably snore even worse than you already do."

"Well, just be thankful I don't then," Karin said crossly. She sighed. "That's where it all began, though. You and I."

"Bullshit," said Suigetsu. "You never would've slept with me if you didn't want me. We just couldn't resist each other."

"Or I was just incredibly horny and wasn't thinking about what I was doing," Karin replied. "But I definitely don't regret it."

"Me too." Suigetsu turned to face Karin. He grabbed a strand of her hair. "It's the thing I wanted most ever since I met you."

"Okay, now _you're_ bullshitting."

"Maybe, but I just can't remember a time when I didn't want to fuck your brains out, even if I couldn't admit it to myself at first."

"All this talk of fucking is making me horny again," Karin whispered huskily. "What do you say? One more time for the road?"

"Mmm, that sounds like a good idea," Suigetsu agreed, climbing on top of her. "Let's make this a night that you'll never, _ever_ want to forget."

And they did.

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Author's Note: The End! I hope you enjoyed reading my story as much as I enjoyed writing it! Any feedback is welcome, so please leave me a review. I'm not going to have as much time soon to write long fics like this one, but expect some drabbles here and there. Thanks for reading!


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